Panhandle Health chair proposes May workshop to reassess clinical services amid low clinic use

Panhandle Health District board Chair Dr. Thomas Fletcher proposed holding a strategy workshop on clinical services on Saturday, May 10, at 9 a.m., to examine why district clinics appear underused and to plan responses to recent legislative changes affecting Medicaid and federal public-health programs.

Fletcher told the Kootenai County-hosted meeting on April 9 that he had done informal “secret shopping” visits to several Panhandle Health clinics and found them largely empty. "If we are to believe that public health actually has a purpose in human civilization ... then it is incumbent upon us, those who are in public health, to do something to restore the trust in public health and the efficacy of public health," Fletcher said. He described the May 10 session as a workshop for scenario planning rather than a meeting intended to produce immediate actions.

The workshop, as Fletcher described it, would bring together the 15 county commissioners who participate in Panhandle Health, Panhandle Health board members and members of the public. Fletcher said the session would begin with three short presentations: an analysis of clinic activity over the past 10 years from Eric Katner, an update on recent Medicaid-related legislation from facilitator Seth Grigg, and a review by Fletcher of how public health differs…