Monroe County gov’t operation of family planning clinic to stop at least for now, maybe for good
Monroe County government’s operation of its Futures Family Planning Clinic will be suspended for 30 days, maybe longer, even for good.
That’s the outcome of a special meeting of Monroe County’s board of health held on Wednesday afternoon.
Based on the way board president Stephen Pritchard opened Wednesday’s meeting, the crisis stems from the fact that the clinic has “failed to perform up to the standards that our Title X grant requires.” Title X is a federal program for giving people family planning and reproductive health services.
Pritchard said that a possible clinic closure had been considered for some time, but had reached a critical point, because there are no longer enough employees to keep the clinic open.
The future of the clinic will depend on the outcome of a Friday (Aug. 23) afternoon meeting between Monroe County officials and IFHC (Indiana Family Health Council)—which is the agency that helps fund the clinic through Title X.
[Updated at 5:45 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2024: Monroe County has issued a news release on the topic of the Futures Clinic.]
[Updated on Aug. 23 at 7:45 p.m. Monroe County learned on Friday at the meeting that IFHC will terminate the contract with the Futures Clinic: Key contract terminated for Monroe County’s family planning clinic, will close after 18 years]
If IFHC itself is able to step in and provide services for 90 days, that could give the Futures Clinic a chance to reset, hire all new employees, and resume its provision of family planning health services for adolescents and adults.
According to Monroe County health administrator Lori Kelley, the hope is that IFHC could provide services out of the clinic’s location at College Avenue and 7th Street in downtown Bloomington, but that’s still an open question.
If the county government’s operation of the clinic resumes after 90 days, it would be staffing up from scratch. At Wednesday’s special meeting, the board authorized county health officer Clark Brittain to terminate the clinic’s last employee.
If the outcome of Friday’s meeting is that IFHC can’t bridge the time for the clinic to reset, the motion approved unanimously by the board of health on Wednesday says that the clinic would be closed effective 30 days from next Monday (Aug. 26). The clinic is required to provide some coverage for that 30-day window—for emergencies and to serve patients with immediate needs.
Based on the conversation during the board meeting, and a followup interview with Kelley, Monroe County has arranged to provide the interim 30-day coverage by HealthNet, Planned Parenthood, and Pace Community Action Agency. Pace has a clinic in Bedford.
Before the main motion was approved at Wednesday’s special meeting, a vote was taken on proceeding with closure of the clinic with 30 days notice, without asking for assistance from IFHC. The point of that vote was to provide clarity about the board’s intention.
Based on the meeting’s video recording, when the roll was called, all five board members present voted against it, except for George Hegeman. Other board members present were: Sarah Ryterband, Kay Leach, Dawne (Aurora) DiOrio, and board president Stephen Pritchard.
Pritchard opened the meeting with a grim description of the state of the clinic. “It is no secret that this clinic hasn’t been running …up to the standards that it had previously run.”
Pritchard said the staff had completely turned over at the end of last year. Recruitment of new staff is hard, Pritchard said. ”We’ve had jobs open that we have advertised for for months, and those have gone yet unfilled.”
The number of patients seen at the clinic dropped significantly after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, based on figures provided to The B Square by health administrator Lori Kelley.
In 2017–2019 the clinic averaged around 1,450 patients a year. In 2021, the number was 1,021 and dropped to 866 in 2022, with the most recent full year of data, in 2023, coming at 604 patients. Through July 31 this year, 369 patients have been seen.
