As Budget Deadline Approaches, Two Local Clinics Await Their Fate

Another potential victim of a state government shutdown: a pair of local clinics specializing in healthcare to teenagers and young adults.

The clinics in Excelsior and Hopkins, operated by the nonprofit West Suburban Teen Clinics, saw about 3,000 patients between the ages of 12 and 23 last year. One was Skai—an 18-year-old recent high school graduate.

“I went in for birth control and because I had some questions about what was going on with my body,” she said. “They were really, really helpful.”

Much of the clinics' staff, paid directly from state funds, could face layoffs or reduced hours during a shutdown, said Executive Director Leah Hebert.

“A shutdown lasting any length of time will mean that we shut our doors and have to turn away kids,” Hebert said.

Medicaid reimbursements administered and processed by the state are the financial lifeline and largest source of revenue for the clinics, she said. Several grants administered by Hennepin County also inject regular cash into clinic coffers—grants that would be frozen in the case of a shutdown.

The clinics received good news yesterday when a Ramsey County judge ruled that Medicaid reimbursements are an "essential service" and would continue in the event of a shutdown. Gov. Mark Dayton at first omitted these reimbursements from his list of essential services, but amended that list last week to now include them. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has asked to include them.

“After consultation with seniors and other vulnerable Minnesotans served by our programs, we recognize the lack of assured provider payments could indeed lead to life threatening situations,” Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson said. “The governor’s legal filing and contingency plans will be refined to reflect this.”  

“We’re feeling more positive than we were a week ago,” Hebert said.

The clinics serve western Hennepin County and all of Wright and Scott counties. Demand for service led to the opening of a clinic in Hopkins in January.

Skai learned about West Suburban Teen Clinics when representatives spoke to her high school health class. She said the clinics help teenagers feel comfortable.

“They don’t to preach to us,” she said. “They tell us that we had to make our own decisions and that it was important we made safe ones and were informed."

Skai said she has friends who have turned to the clinic for pregnancy tests, STD tests, counseling, routine medical exams or just to talk and worries about the effects a government shutdown would have on the clinics she sees as a vital tool to local teens.

“I’m worried that people are going to keep doing what they do but not have the resources they need,” Skai said, referencing sexual activity. “People don’t see adolescent health as a priority, and it’s sad, because it should be a priority. The health of my peers is so important.”

West Suburban Teen Clinics, which employs 37 people, provide a range of health services such as annual exams, sports physicals, mental health services and a variety of counseling services. Testing for STDs and birth control are also available. A home-visiting nursing program assists young mothers with infants, and education programs centered around making healthy life choices reach about 18,000 kids and adults each year.

“For many of our clients, we are the only social service agency that they come to,” Hebert said. “I’ve been asked about the affluent suburbs that we’re in, but we’re needed here.”