Coos County Public Health will maintain its family planning program, but not without a partnership with Douglas County in which the counties share a nurse practitioner.

County family planning services has been losing support over the last few years as county and state funding dried up and the federal government applied a proof of citizenship requirement on Medicaid reimbursements for service to family planning clients with little or no ability to pay, said Coos County Public Health Administrator Frances Smith.

“It’s sort of all coming together,” Smith said.

Coos County established Public Health as a stand-on-its-own department last year before adopting the current budget, therefore removing it entirely from county general fund support.

The proposal would reduce the family planning nurse practitioner to three days a week in Coos County. The other two days, the nurse practitioner will travel to Douglas County. Contracting out part-time service of the nurse practitioner would allow Coos County to retain the family planning clinic nurse and two other positions in the program.

Smith said family planning’s nurse practitioner performs all exams and writes prescriptions, among other duties. The clinic would not be able to provide family planning services to federally mandated standards without at least a part-time nurse practitioner.

Douglas County has two nurse practitioner positions, but one nurse is leaving.

 Having to cut back two days also means family planning will be seeing fewer patients here in Coos County.

Terms for the contract have not been set, though Smith said it would most likely have a 30-day opt out clause. A contract could be written for one year or just through the end of fiscal year and renewed if the program works out.  The contract will have to be approved by both counties’ boards of commissioners and could be completed this month.