Retrospect: Local clinic faced possible closure

Thirty years ago this week, a local clinic was facing possible closure.

The clinic that provided free and low-cost medical care to children and pregnant women was nearly out of funding and facing closure, a March 10, 1987, story in The Commercial Review noted. Dr. Gene Gillum said he planned to ask Jay County Council for $20,000 for the clinic, run by Community and Family Services, but that without help it would have to close.

The facility had opened four years earlier, originally funded through money from the state as well as federal revenue sharing. But since then, state funding had been cut off. For several months, the facility had been running only thanks to donations from individual, church groups and philanthropic organizations.

“The well went dry,” Gillum said. “We have continued to operate and used up every cent. There isn’t a dime left for (prenatal or well child clinics).”

During its four years, the clinic had served about 1,100 children and more than 70 pregnant women.

“It’s helped us because I’m out of a job and they don’t turn people away,” a 21-year-old mother of a 3-year-old who received treatment at the clinic told the paper.

Gillum had previously included $22,000 in the health department’s budget request to fund the clinic. But that money had been cut out during the budget approval process by a 4-3 vote. He was also continuing to seek community support as well as a $5,000 grant from the state.

(Faced with the closure, a few days later county council unanimously agreed to allocate the $20,000 Gillum requested for the clinic.)