PUYALLUP – Puyallup Indian health officials are planning severe cuts to services and staff levels to counter decreasing federal funding and rising patient levels.
A letter sent this week from Rod Smith, executive director of the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority, said officials planned layoffs, an end to employer contributions to the staff retirement plan and – for the first time in 12 years – no cost-of-living increases.
Officials have not said how many jobs will be cut. Smith said layoffs would occur in order of nonessential positions, least-effective employees and new hires. Employees would receive at least two weeks’ layoff notice and four weeks’ severance pay.
Smith’s letter followed one last month to 256 employees warning of the health center’s financial crisis.
The authority “is experiencing severe financial difficulties and has determined it must take drastic steps in order to survive this difficult period of time,” he wrote.
“At this time,” Smith said, “all positions are under review and are subject to elimination.”
Some patient services also will be reduced or suspended, and eligibility requirements will be more stringently enforced to reduce the patient load, Smith said.
The authority includes a pharmacy, medical lab, radiology department, optometry and dental clinics. It also offers mental health counseling, physical therapy and chemical-dependency treatment.
The center’s programs are paid for with federal and state funds. The tribe contributes no money.
Rising medical costs, inadequate federal revenues and a growing client base have contributed to the authority’s financial struggles, tribal spokesman John Weymer said.
Any member of an Indian tribe living in the clinic’s service area is eligible for care, he noted.
According to the most recent 2002 figures, the clinic’s patient load was up from 8,813 to 11,564, which includes clients seen in the past three years.
Only 1,675 were Puyallup Tribe members. The remaining patients were either from other tribes or non-Indians affiliated with a tribe.
The clinic’s health care is free for eligible patients, which the tribe considers a treaty right, paid for by the land and resources it gave up in an 1854 treaty.
Members have discussed using the tribe’s gambling profits to help fund the clinic, but a $45 million price tag to move the casino from the waterfront to Fife may deter a favorable decision.
“The tribe has never had to supplement the clinic before with tribal funds,” Weymer said, “but they’re looking at all their options. Anywhere from $2 million to $10 million may be needed in 2005.”
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