Health care is a term that leaves many politicians cringing. They want interviews that don’t mention the idea, a campaign that can avoid it and a public who takes care of it on their own. Too bad.

Health care is an undeniable issue and DeKalb County citizens are lucky to have a state representative who takes initiative.

For the past two years, State Representative Robert Pritchard (R-Hinckley) and a task force of professionals from the DeKalb community, including NIU administration, have been assembling a plan to create a new health care facility.

Now, before DeKalb collectively grumbles: “We don’t need a new clinic, they just built a hospital,” or whines that money would be better spent on road construction, note that the need for this clinic is legitimate.

Pritchard said although the clinic will be open to everyone, regardless of income, it is necessary for those citizens who are only covered by Medicaid. ‘Why?’ you ask.

Currently uninsured citizens look to the Kishwaukee Community Hospital emergency room for routine and non-emergency ailments. These should be treated by their primary health care providers and not by emergency services. Since they are not covered by insurance, their options for primary care are severely limited.

“The only places in the community that take Medicaid patients are the hospital and Tri-County [Community Health Center],” said Shirley Richmond, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services. Richmond is also part of the task force working to establish the new facility.

The new facility, Pritchard said he hopes, will be located in the building once owned by the Monsanto Corp. on Sycamore Road. With a new facility that is easily accessible, Pritchard hopes to keep health costs down.

“[The purpose of] the new clinic would be to serve the people who are now going to the emergency room because they cannot find a primary care clinic to take care of them,” Pritchard said.

By going to the ER for a non-emergency, the cost of the visit is unnecessarily increased.

“Right now, we are incurring the most expensive form of care for these patients,” Pritchard said.

He cites the biggest problem is the state’s Medicaid program, which only “pays seven cents on the dollar and comes months late,” Pritchard said. He said that DeKalb County doctors won’t accept patients on Medicaid and for those who have nowhere else to go, their last resort has been the ER.

“We are hoping that it will decrease the use of the emergency room,” Pritchard said. “We want people to get the care they need in a primary clinic setting.”

As for employees of the facility, Pritchard said that “typical staff negotiations are going on right now.” He hopes the clinic should be available for public use “within the next couple of months.”

Until then, citizens should put doubts aside and feel confident in a plan that will benefit those who need it most.