The Hanford HIV clinic will stay open at least through June 30, 2010 -- and maybe longer if King County can find money to keep it going. The county had threatened to close the clinic at the end of October due to a cut in state funding.
Dr. Annie Wong, who runs the clinic for the county under contract, said keeping it open is a huge relief to the 40 patients who otherwise would have to go to Fresno for treatment.
"I'm thrilled, because my patients cried when I told them" the clinic would remain open, Wong said.
All her patients are in remission, she said, but they fear they could get sick and maybe die if the clinic closes and they can't get the same care, she said. Some are poor and cannot afford to travel to Fresno, she said. In September, the Kings County Department of Public Health told Wong it would close the clinic to save $89,000 a year.
Wong and some supporters complained to the Board of Supervisors, which asked the county administration to try to keep the clinic open. In early October, Wong said, she got a letter rescinding the closure, but she did not announce the reversal until Tuesday.
Ray R. Moreno was part of a unit that helped rescue about 100 soldiers on March 26, 1970, in Vietnam in dense jungle near the Cambodian border. Last month, the men were finally awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor for a military unit.
A special Air Cavalry medal, right, sits next to the Presidential Unit Citation, left, with a photo of Moreno taken when he served in Vietnam. Moreno helped rescue a battalion surrounded by the enemy.
The county will dip into reserves to keep the doors open until June 30, said Deb West, assistant county administrative officer. Officials met with Wong to discuss how to to keep the clinic open after June 30.
"She's got suggestion of how to reduce overall costs," West said, such as consolidating lab work, changing billing and not filling vacant staff jobs.
West also said the county will ask Adventist Health, which is building a new hospital in Hanford, whether the clinic and the hospital can work together and save money.
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