Arguing that officials shouldn't be so hasty to pull unused funds from the Health Department, Hamilton County commissioners shot down a proposal from Mayor Weston Wamp that would have diverted $250,000 to support dental services by Clínica Médicos.
"I got a number of calls from other medical providers (asking) that, if we're giving out money, why not them," Commission Chairman Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, told his colleagues Wednesday. "I read in the paper today that no one else applied. They didn't know how to apply. I have a problem with the process."
Several commissioners stressed that the vote wasn't a reflection of Clínica Médicos, which they praised for its work serving the community, but rather had lingering questions and issues with how the proposal ended up in front of them.
The organization recently broke ground on a new 8,000-square-foot facility across from Montague Park on East 23rd Street, which is intended to help meet the behavioral and dental health needs of the region's underserved and the growing Latino population.
The $250,000 would have come out of the Hamilton County Health Department's primary care clinic budget and been diverted to the Médicos Mission Fund, a nonprofit organization formed in 2021 to fund Clínica Médicos' new dental and behavioral health facility.
"(The Health Department) basically has two physician positions that are currently vacant, and I believe have been vacant all year," Finance Director Lee Brouner told commissioners. "Despite our best efforts to hire for them in this environment, those medical doctor positions have not been filled, which is leaving ... unspent money in that fund."
The vote was 7-4 to deny the reallocation. Commissioners Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd; Mike Chauncey, R-East Ridge; Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, and Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, voted in favor of sending the unspent money to Clínica Médicos. Chattanooga leaders had agreed to match the county's funding up to $250,000.
(READ MORE: Clínica Médicos breaks ground in Chattanooga on new dental, mental health facility)
Dr. Kelly Arnold, the founder and medical director of Clínica Médicos, stood at the podium during an almost hour-long discussion Wednesday, answering questions from commissioners. She was accompanied by about a dozen members of the Clínica Médicos staff, who sat in the audience behind her. Wamp was out of town Wednesday at a conference with Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Justin Robertson.
"My takeaway is that there was good conversation," Arnold said in an interview after the meeting. "There were a lot of good questions that were answered and that in the end, and I think that it was a worthy process in that the public knows more about who we are, why we're here. I think there's also more accountability brought to our entire system in terms of what gaps exist. Regardless, our mission remains, and the show will go on."
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / The Hamilton County Commission, shown here at a December meeting, rejected a funding request from Mayor Weston Wamp to redirect public health funds for the benefit of a private clinic with no opportunity for other providers to compete.A few commissioners noted they could have supported the funding if they had more time to consider the proposal. Graham made the initial motion to approve the money and said commissioners should go ahead and "peel the Band-Aid off" by voting on the measure, noting Arnold had already spent the last week fielding questions from the board.
"I think you're making a mistake," Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, responded. "I would like to see this go through. With a little bit more time, I think it can go through. There's commissioners shaking their head and agreeing that saying it possibly will go through. If you allow it to be voted on, that's going to be on you."
Registering his disappointment with the vote, Wamp said in a statement Wednesday that Hamilton County's growing Latino community now represents 20% of the public school population. They have been overlooked for years, he said, and were overlooked again Wednesday.
"Earlier this year, Chattanooga was ranked 149th of 182 U.S. cities in overall public health. We must ensure that vulnerable populations have access to affordable healthcare services," he said. "Clínica Médicos will continue their outstanding work to serve Hamilton County students and families, which has been supported by the State of Tennessee and our most prominent local foundations. While today's vote was disappointing, we hope county commissioners will join these other partners in supporting the vital services provided by organizations like this."
Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, thanked Arnold and her colleagues for "addressing underserved portions of our community."
"I find it unfortunate that you had been placed in this position of scrutiny in a way that I believe was not thoroughly vetted and left here to stand without the support of the sponsor," he told her Wednesday. "That's disappointing to me."
Facing a staffing shortage, the Sheriff's Office boosted pay in September for corrections officers by freezing about 50 open positions. Citing that as an example, Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, said he would prefer to see the county use available funding to fill empty positions rather than send taxpayer dollars to an outside organization.
"It just doesn't make good business sense to take your surplus and give it away," he said in a phone call.
Wamp's Chief of Staff, Claire McVay, told commissioners that former Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy has been tasked with assessing county departments to ensure they can stay at the correct staffing level.
"Since they were budgeted as health care dollars, we do have concerns that there are residents in Hamilton County whose health care needs are not being met," McVay said, "and that we have let them down by not spending all the money in these prescribed programs."
Several months ago, Wamp proposed reallocating about $3 million in federal pandemic relief dollars from the wastewater authority for various other projects, saying the wastewater authority didn't need the money. That included $250,000 that would have supported Clínica Médicos' expansion.
As it turned out, the authority did need the money, and the proposal was dropped.
McVay said several commissioners had indicated they could support the projects if they came back in a different manner.
"This was our attempt to do that," McVay said. "I apologize on our end if it was rushed and not well communicated. We've been spending a lot of time with (finance staff) going over the budget and numbers, and it was just something that came out ... We've been digging in and asking questions and wondering where money isn't spent and what's the best use for it. It just made sense to us."
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.