Jobs, the Economy, and the Health of a Community

I live and do my work from a popular vacationland – Cape Cod. Although it’s a gloriously beautiful place to live, and the summers truly are fabulous (come on down and stimulate our local economy this summer!), it has a significant year-round population that’s made up of normal working people – not the Kennedy’s, and not the affluent who own summer homes here, but the people who work in the clam shacks, hotels, and retail shops during the summer but struggle to make ends meet in the off- season.

So when eight jobs are cut by one organization in mid-winter, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Here’s the story of eight such people losing their positions at the Outer Cape Health Services. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the geography, if the Cape looks like an arm to you then Outer Cape’s locations span from just above the elbow to its fingertips. According to the Cape Cod Times article, in 2007 the organization provided treatment and preventative care to 11,000 individuals of all ages. The closest hospital to its clinics in Wellfleet and Provincetown is 50 miles away in Hyannis.

Other than my concern for those eight neighbors who lost their jobs, as well as concern for their families and the many people who get their health care from the clinics, why would I write about these job losses on this blog? This is a state and federal policy blog, not one that catalogues the many economic challenges of my chosen home.

Here’s why. When critics of the current economic stimulus bill criticize the proposal for not creating jobs, they’re forgetting about those eight people on the Lower and Outer Cape, and many others like them across the country.

About 40% of Outer Cape Health Center’s revenue is federal, state and local public funding. The stimulus bill proposed by the House proposes an additional $250 million for health center operations in FY09, and $250 million more in FY10. In addition, both the House and Senate proposals include provisions to train people in health care jobs. Here’s a summary of how current stimulus proposals would strengthen community health centers – and the many people who have jobs at them.

Passing the economic recovery plan wouldn’t completely solve Outer Cape’s problems. As the Cape Cod Times article explains, they could also use an additional physician so they could serve more patients and increase the piece of the organization’s revenue (currently at 52%) that comes from patients. But the funds outlined above and the $37 billion + in Medicaid funds included in at least the House proposal (see analysis from the National Conference of State Legislatures highlighted earlier in this blog) would go a long way toward helping community health centers, the people who still have jobs in them, and the people they serve – a population that will only increase during these economic times.

There’s one more reason to move the economic stimulus plan out of Congress now. If you need contact information for your Senators, click here.