Pocatello Free Clinic outlines expanded services, asks Bannock County to consider modest funding increase

Sherry Joseph, executive director of the Pocatello Free Clinic, told Bannock County commissioners that the clinic has expanded services and capacity since she became executive director in 2019 and would welcome an increase in county support.

Joseph said she stepped in as a volunteer when the clinic’s finances were poor and later took a part-time executive director role to preserve budget flexibility. She said staffing has grown from three employees in 2019 to 27 (mostly part time), supported by eight AmeriCorps members and more than 60 volunteers.

The clinic has doubled patient visits since 2019, Joseph said, reporting “about 46,700” visits in the most recent year and that a majority of patients come from Bannock County. “The more that we have, the more we can do,” she said, and later added, “I would love to see a little bit of a raise if it’s possible.”

Joseph described a mixed funding model that depends on competitive grants from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (including dental, HIV and STD grants), a rural health grant, United Way contributions, and local partners. She said roughly $450,000 of the clinic’s budget comes from Idaho Health and Welfare grants, and that last year’s HIV grant — about $150,000 in prior funding — had not yet been approved. Joseph said United Way support was cut by $25,000 this year.

She told commissioners Portneuf Medical Center has maintained its contribution at $75,000 and that “you guys” have remained at $60,000 since 2019, adding that those amounts have not increased in her tenure. Joseph requested consideration of an increase but did not state a specific county funding ask or motion.

Services described include primary care, psychiatric residency rotations from the University of Utah, counseling (including Spanish-language counseling), a dental program that uses Idaho State University dental residents, and outreach at Aid for Friends and Valley Mission and to people living in extended-stay and unsheltered locations. Joseph said about 60% of the clinic’s patients are employed but cannot afford insurance or medications, and described a $300 annual patient assistance “slush fund” that helps cover services the clinic cannot provide directly, such as colonoscopies, mammograms or surgical consults.

On dental care, Joseph said the clinic faces a backlog and workforce gap: 250 people were on the dental wait list at the time of the presentation because Idaho State dental residents are graduating and replacements will not arrive until later in the year. She described a small number of local dentists who accept Medicaid and said the clinic treats many patients who have not seen a dentist in decades.

Joseph emphasized the clinic’s training role with Idaho State University, saying about 25 students over two years have volunteered or worked at the clinic and subsequently entered graduate programs in medicine, dentistry, occupational therapy, nursing and other fields. She invited commissioners to tour the clinic and take a ride-along on outreach deliveries.

The presentation occurred during the county’s budget season; Joseph noted that clinic funding is subject to annual grants and reporting requirements and that some grants are still pending. She did not present formal documentation of a specific county funding request during the meeting.