IndeOnline.com - Renacci Hails Free Clinic's "Safety Net'

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By Matthew Rink

U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, told the board of the Western Stark Free Medical Clinic that their agency provides a safety net for the working poor.

"It's important to know this is a service," he said. "It's one of the areas of health care that we need to make sure is here. It helps with the safety net. It helps with making sure we take care of those working poor that are trying to make it. So, it's a great opportunity for them to try to make ends meet while at the same time be able to come here and get health care benefits."

The clinic, at 820 Amherst Road NE, serves low-income, uninsured residents of Western Stark County. It was established in 1999. It relies heavily on volunteer doctors, nurses and other professionals, as well as donations and in-kind services, including free lab testing by Affinity Medical Center.

Renacci, whose congressional district in 2013 no longer will include Massillon, met for a casual discussion with the clinic's board and employees inside its lobby Tuesday.

Director Gary Feagles said the board had invited Renacci last fall, but he was unable to attend due to budget discussions. Thomas Queen, Renacci's community relations coordinator, attended instead. Renacci wanted to visit Massillon's free clinic, just as he had visited Canton's.

"Massillon needs this," Queen said. "This is good for Massillon and beyond."

Renacci, who is facing Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton this fall in his bid for a second term, again called for the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act and said the economy needs to be turned around to avoid the increasing demand for services at the clinic.

One board member told Renacci that the clinic sees more patients who have been laid off or have watched their benefits run out.

"These are people who never in their lives have had to use anything within the system," the board member said. "They are so glad we are here for that safety net for them."

Renacci said the key is to get the economy moving again. And he railed against government regulations that he believes are preventing that.

"If I'm the president, even if I believe in all these regulations, let's put a stop to them until the system builds itself back up again," he said, "instead of adding the regulations and forcing the system to slow down. Employment and the economy growing fixes all of this."

Renacci also talked about the need for users to share in the cost of some government services, though not necessarily the free clinic.

"We have to engage people into understanding what things cost," he said. "But that doesn't mean there are not exceptions. This clinic takes care of those exceptions."

Massillon Municipal Court Judge C. Roland Centrone said the court uses the concept all the time.

"Defendants buy into it, so they have something to lose," Centrone said of the concept. "There is one difference, maybe, and that is here. When you look at the people who come here, charging them $20 where someplace else they may pay $80, you might as well charge them $100.

"They're not coming," Centrone added. "If you charge them $20 or if you charge them $10, they are not going to walk through the door. They end up ignoring the problem, and we end up paying more in the long run when they hit the emergency room."

The clinic is not a federally qualified health center. The only federal funds it receives are Community Development Block Grant funds. It will receive $10,000 from the city's allotment of CDBG funds this year.

However, the city has been slashed funding by more than 25 percent over the last two years.

Asked whether he supported additional cuts to CDBG, Renacci said, "I'm an advocate of taking a look at everything we do in Washington and making sure it's not wasted and it's used in the right direction. A lot of these government programs are not being used properly. Even in my oversight committee in housing we've seen where these dollars are being wasted. We need to look at all these things."

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