Councilmember Bob Ferguson with Dr. David Fleming, the Director of Public Health – Seattle & King County. Fleming was a guest at the Community Town Hall where Ferguson announced that two north end clinics will remain open through 2008

Two north end public health clinics slated for closure will stay open throughout 2008, King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson announced last night at his town meeting in Shoreline.

“King County residents who depend on public clinics for their health care because they cannot afford adequate insurance can rest easier tonight knowing these clinics will be funded through 2008,” said Councilmember Ferguson, who worked with King County Executive Ron Sims to identify a $5 million reserve fund for public health clinics. The reserve fund will ensure that the county’s ten public health clinics have the money to stay open throughout 2008, especially facilities in North Seattle and Bothell that were slated for closure in 2006 and funded only through 2007.

The funds must be included this fall in the 2008 county budget that is to be adopted by the King County Council. Ferguson chairs the Council’s budget adoption committee.

Sims also set aside an additional $1.5 million in potential funding for public health or jail health services. Ferguson praised Sims for his leadership in keeping the clinics open.

County residents ranked funding for public health—and public health clinics in particular—as their number one priority in a recent Citizen Budget Priorities outreach process co-sponsored by Councilmember Ferguson.

The county is currently examining how it can best fund public health over the long term by developing a Public Health Operational Master Plan. Dedicated funding for public health has been in limbo since the passage in 1999 of state Initiative 695, which repealed the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax and cut state funding for public health that has not been fully restored. Since 2001, the proportion of people in King County who completely lack health insurance has risen sharply from 11 percent to 16 percent of the population. Those residents don’t have employer-paid health insurance, and they also don’t qualify for Medicaid.

“I am committed to finding a long-term solution to ensure access to health care for the 200,000 uninsured residents of King County,” said Ferguson.

Ferguson sponsored last night’s town hall meeting at Meridian Park Elementary School in Shoreline. His featured guest, Dr. David Fleming, the new director of Public Health – Seattle & King County, outlined his agency’s role and the range of services it provides to all King County residents, including everything from restaurant food safety inspections to child immunizations.