The Flathead City-County Health Department’s Board of Health and representatives from the Flathead Community Health Center recently voiced support for moving forward with an agreement that would allow the health center to separate financially and operationally from the county.

Mary Sterhan, executive director for the health center, said during a virtual public meeting Thursday that discussions surrounding the separation really took off earlier this spring and the decision is one that would align with a national trend of clinics moving out from under county oversight to become independent, nonprofit health centers.

Others clinics in Montana have made the choice to become independent from their counties as well, including PurView Health Center in Lewis and Clark County and Alluvion Health — formerly the Community Health Care Center — in Cascade County. And Sterhan said now might be the time for the Flathead Community Health Center to follow suit.

“This would enable us to have a lot more flexibility with what we do,” Sterhan said. “The intent of this clinic is to serve the underserved. While we are a part of the county and they have been supportive of what we do, we aren’t a government entity.”

The Flathead County commissioners unanimously agree with the decision to separate.

At the start of the virtual meeting, the board voted to move forward with submitting a letter of intent to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which currently supplies a significant amount of grant funding to the center through the federal Health Center Program, which allows the facility to provide services to those who cannot necessarily afford health-care expenses outright, among other benefits. In short, the grant is vital to the center’s operations.

But there are a few caveats that could come with pulling out from underneath the county.

The letter that was voted on at the start of the Health Board meeting states, “we are writing to inform you [HRSA] of our decision to relinquish the Health Center Program grant and related COVID program grants including those funded by HHS through Provider Relief Fund.” This means the federal funds would not simply transfer to the center should it separate from the county. Instead, those funds must be “relinquished” back to HRSA and then re-applied for.

Another center could technically apply for that money once it is relinquished, but Sterhan and others said the risk is very low and with the health center’s track record in the community, they are confident they can apply for, and receive that funding once again.

Although the board voted to submit the letter, which would have been a “first step” and simply outlined the intent to relinquish the funds, that vote was later rescinded after Commissioner Pam Holmquist, who had technical difficulties with Zoom during the initial vote, said the board needed to take more time to review the letter and other items including the ins-and-outs of what a transition might look like down the road.

In a phone call after the meeting, Holmquist said an example of other material in need of further discussion includes the ongoing lease the county has with the health center for the clinic’s current location on the county campus. Holmquist said should the center become independent, it is a possibility leaders may wish to relocate prior to the lease’s expiration date in 2031. Holmquist said the county would be interested in buying the center out of the rest of that lease should that be the case, and use the building to “help with future space needs.”

“We need a road map,” Holmquist said. “The county wants the center to succeed and the commissioners are all on board for whatever that might look like. But I think we need to hammer out the details before we just relinquish the funds to HRSA.”

Holmquist and Sterhan said the details involving the separation, the lease and other matters have not been ironed out and emphasized that, as a whole, the process is in its beginning stages.

After rescinding the vote, the board agreed to hold a special meeting on the letter of intent and subsequent material “soon,” though they did not set a date.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com