For some reason, WHAG did not post the video from the news story... Here's the transcript of the story:
BOYCE, VA - Jack Starry and his wife Mary work
around the clock to care for their son JT, who has autism. He works just as
hard in his fight to keep the state from closing the Winchester Child
Development Clinic for good.
"Why was there no other fat in their budget and they decided to go for the Child Development Clinic," Starry questions.
Starry's petition against the closing has gained more than 6,800 signatures. The Virginia Department of Health has responded and they are standing behind their decision.
"This statement here does not address any of the concerns that we put forth on the petition," Starry says of the VDH's response.
In a statement to WHAG, Dr. Lauri Kalanges, the director of family health services for the Virginia Department of Health says that tight funding contributed to the decision to close the Winchester office. She says the VDH found that contractors were able to see more children than local CDC's partly because they have more "flexibility in staffing and in tailoring the evaluation to the specific needs of each child." After evaluating different models she says the VDH "determined that the program goals of serving as many children as possible and identifying children with developmental delays as young as possible would be best served by transitioning to a contractor-based model."
"I'm going to be contacting her directly, Dr. Lauri Kalanges, and figure out what can be done," Starry says. "How we can change this? I'm going to ask her about the logistics of absorbing so many CDC's to be seen at JMU. How they're going to be able to see more children, taking on so many different case loads from so many different areas? When you take more case loads, you're bogging yourself down. You're not opening yourself to be more productive."
Starry also has the support of local state Senator Jill Vogel, (R-27th district). She says in a phone interview nothing is more important to her than keeping the local CDC open.
"For those who would argue that this is a resource matter and moving it geographically, that is not undermining people's access to the services, that couldn't be farther from the truth," Vogel says. "If you make it so that it is not accessible, many many families won't be able to travel."
Vogel says she plans to fight with Starry to change the decision and keep services local.
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"Why was there no other fat in their budget and they decided to go for the Child Development Clinic," Starry questions.
Starry's petition against the closing has gained more than 6,800 signatures. The Virginia Department of Health has responded and they are standing behind their decision.
"This statement here does not address any of the concerns that we put forth on the petition," Starry says of the VDH's response.
In a statement to WHAG, Dr. Lauri Kalanges, the director of family health services for the Virginia Department of Health says that tight funding contributed to the decision to close the Winchester office. She says the VDH found that contractors were able to see more children than local CDC's partly because they have more "flexibility in staffing and in tailoring the evaluation to the specific needs of each child." After evaluating different models she says the VDH "determined that the program goals of serving as many children as possible and identifying children with developmental delays as young as possible would be best served by transitioning to a contractor-based model."
"I'm going to be contacting her directly, Dr. Lauri Kalanges, and figure out what can be done," Starry says. "How we can change this? I'm going to ask her about the logistics of absorbing so many CDC's to be seen at JMU. How they're going to be able to see more children, taking on so many different case loads from so many different areas? When you take more case loads, you're bogging yourself down. You're not opening yourself to be more productive."
Starry also has the support of local state Senator Jill Vogel, (R-27th district). She says in a phone interview nothing is more important to her than keeping the local CDC open.
"For those who would argue that this is a resource matter and moving it geographically, that is not undermining people's access to the services, that couldn't be farther from the truth," Vogel says. "If you make it so that it is not accessible, many many families won't be able to travel."
Vogel says she plans to fight with Starry to change the decision and keep services local.
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If you got the chance to read my last blog, you will see my response to the Department of Health... And I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN A RESPONSE!!!
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