Hamilton County commissioners are considering a request from county Mayor Weston Wamp to move $250,000 from the county Health Department to the privately-owned Clínica Médicos for an expansion project.
Wamp told commissioners at a Wednesday meeting that funding is surplus and won’t be used in time by the department’s primary care clinic, since it had several unfilled positions this fiscal year.
“This is a way to fulfill to taxpayers the intent of last year’s budget, that was to fund public health,” Wamp said by phone after the meeting. “The capacity of the Health Department did not allow these dollars to be put to use.”
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Wamp said he anticipates the positions will be staffed in the next fiscal year, which begins in July. The new budget should include pay raises for county employees, including those in the Health Department, Wamp said.