More than 1,000 of Kentucky’s most medically complex patients are set to lose their healthcare home, after staff at Louisville’s Lee Specialty Clinic were told the facility is losing the vast majority of its funding- a cut the Beshear administration now confirms, and blames on the General Assembly’s budget.
The Louisville clinic is a one-stop medical home for Kentuckians with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dental care, primary care, psychiatry, OB-GYN, audiology, physical and occupational therapy, speech, behavioral health, a crisis center- all under one roof, all delivered by staff trained specifically to care for patients that most doctors’ offices, frankly, turn away.
The New York Times profiled the clinic back in 2014, shortly after it opened, calling it an oasis of care for people with intellectual disabilities. The clinic’s own mission statement doesn’t mince words about why it exists: for years, physicians, dentists, hospitals, and emergency rooms have quietly told patients with IDD and their families to find care elsewhere.
Now, staff members tell me that oasis is on the brink of disappearing. They told me the source of the funding cut was unclear. But today I learned what’s behind it- at least according to the Beshear administration.
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Source: Shay McAlister/shay informed; https://www.shayinformed.com/le/
See also: Shay McAlister/Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14fSrXLCrpd/