What’s the “hold up” with Elmira’s new health center?

ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – At a meeting of the Chemung County Legislature, several lawmakers raised concerns about a “hold up” involving federal funding for Elmira’s new Federally Qualified Health Center, or FQHC .

“I don’t know what in the world is holding this up, but it has to stop,” said County Legislator Martin Chalk, who represents Elmira.

A Federally Qualified Health Center provides services for underserved communities. It is funded by federal tax dollars and other government funds.

“We have extreme poverty in this community, and that’s not a surprise to anyone. It is a damn sin that we go without proper healthcare for some of these people.”

At Monday night’s meeting, lawmakers saw a presentation from Mike Pease, the CEO of The Chautauqua Center . You could not see any video or audio from Mr. Pease’s presentation on the County’s livestream. 18 News has reached out to the County IT Department to ask if there were any technical issues.

The County livestream was back online August 12th for the first time since going dark in December of 2023. The County IT Department says it was due to technical difficulties after the system was upgraded to new hardware and speakers. Mr. Pease was also speaking from a livestream broadcast into the legislative chamber. The audio seemed to cut off whenever Mr. Pease was speaking. The County says it has been working with the vendor to correct the issues that started in December.

In a phone call with 18 News, Legislature Chairman Mark Margeson said the “Twin Tiers Women’s Health Center” on Walnut Street, next to the Arnot Medical Center, recently became part of “ The Chautauqua Center ” network of FQHC’s. The facility opened in May.

Margeson told 18 News the County agreement with the FQHC was first signed in 2022 by the previous Chairman. The County later approved $1,000,000 in funding from the COVID-19 American Rescue Plan for the project. The federal tax dollars would pay for improving and expanding the current facility on Walnut Street, including more exam rooms, physicians and dental care.

Margeson told 18 News the $1,000,000 in federal funding has not been approved for transfer yet because County Executive Chris Moss says the Legislature didn’t have the authority to sign the agreement.

“The holdup is approval of transferring the funding to the FQHC to utilize it for the remodels,” Margeson said. “Just so you know, the FQHC has not requested the funding at this point because they are out seeking bids to get the work done. Once that’s done, they’re going to reach out and ask for the funding.”

“The current challenge is the County Executive indicated the Chairman of the Legislature doesn’t have the ability to sign contracts and has held up the county attorney from putting together a contract to approve the funding. The charter does read that the Chairman of the Legislature does have the ability to sign the contract,” Margeson added.

Legislature Vice chairman Thomas Sweet said the County has done everything “by the book” to move this project forward.

“Now most of you know I coach basketball and lacrosse,” Sweet told the Legislature. “Why do I bring that up? Because I gotta read the rule book. I read the rule book, and this is my interpretation of the rules. There is no reason that I can see why this is being held up. You’re right gentlemen, we planned this out in 2022 to better our community.”

18 News reached out to the Chemung County Executive’s Office. We were told Executive Chris Moss was busy with several meetings, but that he did want to make a statement when he had time. As of this publication, we have not received it.

Margeson told 18 News if the current FQHC that’s part of The Chautauqua Center is approved to become its own, “stand-alone” FQHC, the federal government could provide an additional $650,000 in funding.

“The federal government will be providing 77 FQHC slots throughout the country,” Margeson added. “We are the number one qualifying spot in New York State because of the amount of poverty we have in this community. We are the number one spot in New York State to get this.”

Margeson said all funding from the COVID-19 American Rescue Plan has to be “encumbered” or committed by December 31, 2024. If the funds are not assigned by the deadline, they will be returned to the federal government.

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