Local Panhandle Health office may close

BONNERS FERRY —  In the face of state budget shortfalls, the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare may close a dozen of its 30 statewide offices.

The office in Bonners Ferry is one of those likely to be shut down.

Boundary County Commission Chair Ron Smith arranged for a conference call Monday between IDHW director Richard Armstrong and local legislators and officials after learning about the matter from John Taft, who leases the Bonners Ferry building to the state.

Sen. Shawn Keough said this is one of the first, but not the last of the impacts that will be seen in the state as the budget continues to decline, citing a newly-released report showing collections down $6 million in February and the loss of $7 to $8 billion in lost sales and income tax revenues.

“The state agencies represented have been dealing with these cuts for years and it will continue,” she said. “That is the reality we are in.”

Interim Sen. Darrell Kerby, who is standing in for Keough while her husband, Mike, recovers from heart surgery, also was involved in the call as were Reps. George Eskridge and Eric Anderson.

IDHW has been coping with the budget crisis for quite some time, cutting offices statewide to four days a week and putting employees around the state on 36,000 hours of furlough, but those measures, Armstrong said, were only temporary and short term.

A few weeks ago, a revision in the 2010 budget was made which will be ongoing, Armstrong said said.

With the predicted loss of about $24 million in Medicare spending during the next year, the office likely will make permanent cuts, mostly in personnel, which will have to be cut by about 7 percent, or about 120 employees, and cutting that many personnel will mean the need to consolidate services and increase productivity.

Keough asked Armstrong if there was a possibility of rotating days of service between Ponderay and Bonners Ferry so as to keep a local presence at least two days a week, but Armstrong replied that this had been tried in other areas, and the savings afforded just don't add up.

The Bonners Ferry office has 22 clients, is processing 69 applications and a number of foster care placements. If closed, those clients would be transferred to the Ponderay office, 32 miles south in Bonners Ferry.

According to IDHW public information officer Emily Simnitt, no final decisions on closures had yet been made, nor has a firm date been set as to when that decision will come, though, she said, it will be soon.

“We started out by looking at 15 offices for potential closure, and that number has been reduced to 11 or 12 offices we are planning to close, though that decision is not final. We are still working it out, and once the decision is made it will take time to implement. At this point, we're not sure how long it will take.”

Commissioner Smith said he did not come away from the conference with a good feeling.

“I still fear we could lose,” he said, “but I think having all these people here, not just elected officials but people representing many different agencies, will let them know how important these services are to Boundary County.”

Financial circumstances are very grim in a time when many more people are requesting services from Health and Welfare and the agency does not and will not have the resources to serve them.

“Over the last two years, people on food stamps have increased over six percent and those on Medicaid increased 15 percent, with 10 percent in just the last 12 months,” Armstrong said. “There is increasing demand for services while there is a reduction in the budget, and it is a very difficult management situation. By closing offices and transferring the work to another processing site, the State can increase productivity and process more applications at the same time.”

Mayor Dave Anderson asked about the possibility of enlarging the rural offices where unemployment and poverty are higher and having those from more affluent communities commute to Bonners Ferry.

Armstrong said that position had been considered, but logistical concerns made it impractical.

Smith asked if any consideration had been given to the impact on the citizens of Boundary County.

“Absolutely,” Armstrong replied. “I don't put this forward as good customer service, but unfortunately the Department of Health and Welfare has been pushed to this situation of not-so-good alternatives … the department has to find the savings, and there are no alternatives.”

Taft asked if concessions in the building lease agreement would help, but Armstrong said lease costs are minimal, and that the issue boiled down to cutting personnel, who cost 10 times more than building costs.

Elsie Hollenbeck said it is a very long drive from Ponderay to Eastport or Port Hill, adding that Boundary County has no public transportation network.

The conference call also attracted a number of concerned community members to the courthouse.

Representatives from a number of local agencies showed up to voice their concerns.

Crowding commission chambers were Taft, Hollenbeck, representing seniors and the citizens of Boundary County, Judy Dirks, chair of the Community Coalition for Families and the Boundary County Youth Domestic Violence Crisis Line, Gini Woodword, representing the Coalition for Families and the Far North National Alliance on Mental Illness, Ozzie Osborn, representing AARP, Bonners Ferry High School counselor RaNae Barker and superintendent Dr. Don Bartling.

They also included Boundary Community Hospital CEO Craig Johnson, Greg Seibert of the Idaho Department of Commerce, Boundary County Clerk Glenda Poston and deputy clerk Nancy Ryals, Economic Development specialist Mike Sloan, Bonners Ferry Mayor Dave Anderson and Dave Darrow of the Idaho Department of Labor.