County Commission to hold health care workshop on Tuesday

County Commissioners will hold a workshop tomorrow afternoon to discuss the future of health care in the city of Carrabelle. Because of state budget cuts, the local health department could close its Carrabelle location, something the county commission would like to avoid.
The question is whether there is an overwhelming need to keep the location open. Weems Memorial hospital now has a clinic at the Carrabelle city complex which provides primary health services to residents – the county will also build an urgent care clinic in the city funded through a local sales tax. It has been argued that the if the health department were to close, the county could take possession of the health department building and use it for the urgent care clinic and likely still provide some space for health department services. That plan could save the county a substantial sum of money – not only in construction costs but also because the county would then not have to increase its funding for the health department. According to clerk of the court Marcia Johnson, Franklin County already spends 126 thousand dollars a year for the health department or about 10.24 per person in the county. The county also pays 20 thousand dollars more for maintenance for the health department buildings and pays for the insurance for the buildings, vehicles and a boat. At least two county commissioners, Cheryl Sanders and Bevin Putnal, say the health department in Carrabelle is too important to allow it to close – and they will do what it takes to keep the location open. On Tuesday, the county will meet with a number of groups with an interest in the health care debate to decide how best to move forward. They expect to have health department officials at the workshop along with representatives of the local hospital, the City of Carrabelle and the county finance office. Of course the meeting will be open to the public – it will be held at 1:30 at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex in Apalachicola.