• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Health Services for Homebound Saved

Posted on: Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

Jul. 24--Lincoln County's long-running health services program for homebound patients will continue after all.

In a 3-2 vote last week, the county board of commissioners reversed an earlier decision to stop funding the program, a move that infuriated some employees and patients. A petition with 1,200 signatures asked the board to reconsider, and they did.

"It has been resurrected!" said Dr. Thomas Smith, medical director for the Lincoln County Home Health Agency. "We were thinking that as of Dec. 31, (employees) would be working for this nonprofit organization."

Board Chairman Tom Anderson and commissioner Marie Moore opposed the commissioners' reversal. The program was unique when the health department began it in 1971, but patients now have at least 18 other options from public and private agencies, the chairman said.

"We are constantly told that the government is too large," Anderson said. "Given that the service was now available from the private sector and any number of public agencies, it just seemed this was an appropriate time for the county to no longer provide that service. (But) people have problems with change."

The move would have cut 15 full-time positions. Already, some patients switched providers, thinking the county service was going to end Dec. 31. Some of those have begun returning with last week's decision, Smith said.

-----

To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotte.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

More News in this Category