Staff Writer

WORCESTER - A struggling health clinic here will be taken over by the hospital in Oneonta in an effort to save it.

The Southeastern Otsego Health Center will become a Fox Hospital-owned practice in an attempt to solve the center's financial troubles.

"I think it's our last chance," said Dr. Robert Garfield, the doctor on staff and the center's medical director. "We hope it will save the health center, and the community hopes it will stick around."

Following a decision made at its Feb. 27 meeting, the center's board of directors is preparing to seek permission from the state to change the center from an individual entity to a practice operated by A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital, said Dr. David Evelyn, a board member and Fox's vice president of medical affairs.

"At this point, we're not talking about closing the center. We're talking about keeping it alive," Evelyn said.

Garfield said the center, which offers family practice and dental services five days a week, primarily serves residents in the area bordered by Cobleskill, Oneonta and Cooperstown. The center averages between 400 and 600 doctor visits a month, Evelyn said.

The center, which opened in 1981, was founded by members of the community after the area's few practicing physicians retired in the late 1970s.

As of 1991, it was the only independent health center in Otsego County, but financial problems in the mid-1990s led it to seek an affiliation in 1998 with A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital.

"Unfortunately, losses have continued to the point that Fox has contributed over $700,000 to keep the health center running," Evelyn said.

Patient volume has decreased, health-care reimbursements have not kept pace with inflation, and running the office has become more costly, Evelyn said.

"The overhead there is equivalent to a center two or three times its size," said board member John Arnold of Schenevus.

The number of staff at the center will be reduced as the hospital takes over billing, payroll and human resources, Evelyn said. In addition, the center's physician assistant will be laid off, he said.

The center will also benefit from better reimbursement rates available to hospital-owned practices, Evelyn said.

Personnel changes at the center will take effect March 31, he said, and some center staff have already applied for positions at Fox Hospital, he said.

"Any of us would be liars if we said we weren't worried," said Karen Stabler, a licensed practical nurse at the center. "But we're flexible."

Peggy Southworth, a medical office assistant, said she's worked at the center for almost 13 years. "I hope it turns out OK," she said. "I have to think positive."

Ada Murphy, 43, of Richmondville said she's been going to the center for 18 years. "I hope this place never closes," she said. "I like the doctors. They take their time. They don't rush you out of the room."

Staff members said patients have expressed concerns the center will close.

Stabler said, "We just want to make people comfortable in knowing we're staying here."

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Melissa Scram can be reached at mscram@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7213.