SHAFTER, Calif. – Months after a public health clinic shut down in the city of Shafter, health officials say they are continuing to weigh options for health services in the community.
The clinic was operated by the Kern County Department of Public Health, which faced significant budget cuts this year after a vote by the county’s Board of Supervisors. The board approved cuts that amounted to just over $12 million and led to layoffs in addition to diminished services.
Some clinics – like Omni Health and Adventist Health – still offer services in the community, but a recent grand jury report highlighted the budget cuts to the public health department as concerning because they had “greatly weakened” the safety net provided by the county’s public health department.
The grand jury said Shafter’s public health clinic closure would impact primarily people without access to reliable transportation, and recommended the county restore the clinic by 2027.
In the meantime, the Kern County Department of Public Health is providing “field services” to the city, as it does to other parts of the county, according to Michelle Corson, the department’s spokeswoman.
She said a public health nurse maintains a caseload in Shafter, despite not having a clinic location. She said residents can still access services at the department’s main location in Bakersfield. She added the department has developed a referral process for residents in Shafter to seek services directly by the department from other clinics if needed.
“We are monitoring the need. If a demand for services arises that cannot be met by the other clinics in the area, we will reevaluate a potential change to service delivery at that time,” Corson said.
The health department typically responds to chronic health issues within the county. Kern County has one of the state’s highest rates of sexually transmitted infections and Valley Fever, for example. And the county also has one of the highest rates of people enrolled in government subsidized health insurance.
Suzanne McWhorter, a nurse with the Kern County Public Health Department and a member of the SEIU 521 union said she was transferred from Shafter to Delano after the clinic’s closure. She said her caseload and her travel time has increased since the Shafter clinic closed and staff was lost.
“When we staffed Shafter and Wasco, rural families could walk in for immunizations and STD referrals,” McWhorter said. “Now, local doctors are delaying appointments.”
McWhorter said the county needs more nurses.
The state – and the Valley – has a chronic shortage of doctors and nurses. An analysis by the California Health Care Foundation found almost a third of the state’s population is in a “Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area.” That includes a majority of residents in the Valley.
The Kern County grand jury wrote in its recent report the doctor and nurse shortage could worsen if the county’s public health funding is not restored.
Lance Lippincott, Shafter’s city manager, said the city was not consulted in the decision to close down the public health clinic since it was operated by the county. But he said the city is committed to attracting more health services for the community – especially if it continues to grow.
“Most of these efforts have been centered on attracting private healthcare providers with the ultimate goal of hopefully attracting a hospital when population numbers make it feasible,” Lippincott said.
In general, the state’s inland regions like the Valley and the Inland Empire have seen growth in recent years. Shafter’s population hangs at just over 20,000. Earlier this year, the city landed on top of a list of the state's “fastest growing cities.”
The city had grown by about 4.7% since the previous year. Shafter remains among the San Joaquin Valley’s smaller cities, but experts said the growth in this largely agricultural town was mainly due to new housing projects.
