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Knox County Health Department Reluctant to Keep Working With State
Add the Knox County Health Department to the list of health department hesitant to do any more work with the state since bills aren't being paid on time.

Administrator Heidi Britton told the Knox County Board of Health Thursday night she is going to continue to sign contracts for state services, despite the fact that other health departments are not. That's in part, because the state remains over six months behind in at least two grant-funded areas: the Family Case Management grant, and a Teen Parent Services grant.

Britton says the department's reserves will cover those services with reserve money -- for now.

"I think we can float [the money] definitely until December," Britton said. "At that point, then, we'll probably have some red flags coming up."

Britton says questioning of what the department can and can't do is going to have to happen soon.

"Six months down the road, eight months down the road, we may have hard decisions to make at that time," Britton said. "I have been watching what other health departments are doing as well and reacting to it. Some are just saying they're not signing any of these contracts."

Britton says some are hesitant to not sign contracts for fear they may never see the grant money in question.

"At some point, if we have to stop services, we have to do it because of just sheer necessity," Dr. Tommy West, board member, said. "The state has failed us."

Britton says she has signed some new contracts where money has already been received.
07 08 10 by Newsroom
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