HelpWest presents clinic services, maternal-care results and urges continuation of county funding

Mindy Vanadetti, chief executive officer of HelpWest, and Amy Tovey, chief operations officer, presented an overview of HelpWest services to Bannock County officials and asked the county to continue prior-year funding levels. Project manager Megan Borich also participated in the presentation and described clinic operations and residency partnerships.

Vanadetti and Tovey said HelpWest runs multiple clinics serving all of Bannock County, including four Pocatello locations, a Chubbuck clinic that integrates medical, dental and behavioral health services, and additional sites in Downey, Lava and Montpelier. They described an Idaho State University residency partnership that places medical and psychiatry residents in a clinic setting.

Tovey said the organization used a $50,000 county contribution to support obstetrics services last year, reporting 251 patients and 103 deliveries at the mother-infant program and estimating that the $50,000 generated about $154,000 in care. "Last year on page 10, it shows that we saw 251 patients and did a hundred and 3 deliveries. And we estimated with that $50,000 contribution that we provided a hundred and $54,000 in care," she said.

HelpWest staff also described the organization’s special services program, which waives nominal sliding fees for low-income patients. Tovey said the program logged more than 1,100 visits last year with 210 patients using the waiver, totaling over $40,000 in direct costs. She said HelpWest’s broader sliding-fee adjustments across services amounted to nearly $2.3 million last year.

Officials described workforce and funding pressures. Tovey said both OB-GYNs left the organization over the past year citing concerns about recent legislation and licensure issues, and she flagged Medicaid payment changes as a major risk. "We have about a $500,000 hit by not getting the Healthy Connections payments, the per member per month payments through Medicaid," she said, adding that federal and state changes remain under close watch. Tovey also noted rising supply and staffing costs and that reimbursement rates have not kept pace.

HelpWest emphasized increased demand for behavioral health services among school-age children since the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing difficulty recruiting counselors and other providers. The organization said it uses special-services funds and other grants to waive co-pays for students where needed, but recruitment shortages limit capacity.

When county officials asked about funding, one official noted prior-year allocations: "What do we give these last year? Health West gets 10,000 and mother infant care gets 55,000." HelpWest requested the same funding level this year. Vanadetti said HelpWest would use any additional funds responsibly but acknowledged the county’s tight budget constraints.

The presentation did not include a recorded formal county vote or a decision on the request within the transcript.