QuickTake:

Community Health Centers of Lane County plans to shut down two of its eight clinics that serve low-income residents on Medicaid, moving those patients to other locations. The county is also trimming staff and cutting back services to close a budget gap.

Lane County officials are making plans to cut clinic locations, hours and staffing as they grapple with a tight budget and seek ways to continue providing health care to residents.

Through Community Health Centers of Lane County, the county offers care to people regardless of their ability to pay. Community Health Centers of Lane County, a federally qualified health center, treats patients on Medicaid. About 30,000 Lane County residents get care through the county’s health centers. 

Residents, from infants to seniors, can get preventative and ongoing treatment for conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma, among others. The county’s clinics, stretching from Cottage Grove to Eugene, also provide mental health services, preventative dental care for children and referrals to specialists.

The vast system faces financial pressures as it balances the needs of the community with rising costs and inflation, along with an increased demand for services. Under the planned cuts, residents will still get care, but with two clinic locations shuttered, residents will see fewer hours and reduced staffing.

The county has eliminated 30 vacant positions and is cutting additional management and support staff members, Eve Gray, director of Lane County Health and Human Services, told commissioners in a briefing Tuesday, Sept. 23. Gray said the reductions will be spaced out, with some at the end of the month and others at the start of November. A full figure of reductions wasn’t available. About 250 staff work in the clinics currently.

The job cuts are timed to coincide with the county’s consolidation of its eight clinics to six locations. 

In early November, the county will move staff at the Brookside Clinic on Chambers Street in Eugene to the Charnelton Community Clinic on Seventh Avenue, where more space is available, Gray said.

The county is also moving its MLK Primary Care staff in Eugene to Charnelton Community Clinic. Some staff positions will be cut.

The county will retain the shuttered MLK clinic’s building, 2411 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., said Jason Davis, a spokesperson for Lane County Health and Human Services. If funding allows in the future, the county potentially could reopen there. 

In the foreseeable future, though, cuts are needed.

With the additional costs of the location, it made financial sense to consolidate, Gray said. Officials had to make other painful cuts: The county ended a transition-of-care program that provides nurses to help patients who leave the hospital get connected to follow-up care.

They’re also cutting hours at a clinic at Springfield High School. Starting Oct. 20, the health center will adjust its schedule. A nurse practitioner will provide patient care on Thursdays and Fridays, while on Mondays and Tuesdays, she will provide care at Riverstone Clinic in Springfield.

Lane County Behavioral Health will continue to provide mental health services Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the high school location, Davis said in an email.

County officials predict the cuts will save about $3.2 million in the first year and $4.2 million the next year.

Another potential wrinkle: PacificSource

But it may not be enough.

The week prior, on Sept. 17, county administrators sent out a note telling staff, “Guys, we think we did it. We think we closed the gap,” in the health care program, as Gray recounted to commissioners.

The next day, PacificSource announced it would not be renewing its contract to provide Medicaid services to Lane County patients through its coordinated care organization — a decision that could have a big impact on the county’s clinics.

Through its coordinated care organization, PacificSource Community Solutions, contracts with the Oregon Health Authority to provide Medicaid-funded care to Lane County residents through its network of providers. PacificSource is one of two coordinated care organizations that cover Lane County; the other is Trillium.

About two-thirds of the county health center’s patients are enrolled in PacificSource.

For now, the county is waiting to see what will come of the state’s efforts to find an alternative to cover residents.

“We are not allowed to share what the payers pay us, but there is a disparity between the payers, and the loss of PacificSource in our community would have a further negative financial impact,” Gray said.

Despite the uncertainty, commissioners said it’s important to continue to advocate for the best outcome.

“It’s not time for hand-wringing,” Commissioner Pat Farr said. “It’s a time for a march to action.” 

Lane County Commission chair David Loveall thanked staff for their work and planning ahead.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.