By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – A new branch of a West Bank health clinic, set to open on the East Bank of St. John the Baptist Parish, earned the support of Parish Council members at a finance committee meeting.

The council approved the opening of a Reserve location of the Teche Action Clinic, a partially federally funded treatment facility that provides primary and preventive healthcare for residents of the parish who are not adequately served medically.

Parish President Nickie Monica said the new location would be a beneficial addition to healthcare in St. John Parish.

&#8220Once the agreement is signed,” said Monica, &#8220100 percent of St. John’s population on the east bank and west bank will have access to healthcare.”

The West Bank branch of the clinic, located in Edgard, has been in operation the past five years. Officials said the new location would be housed inside a wing of the St. John Office of Public Health on Central Avenue. It is scheduled to open sometime next year.

Parish officials said that St. John would provide the space for the facility, as well as pay utility bills and provide janitorial services.

Although the agreement was approved, some council members expressed anxiety over the new facility, and feared it would take away patients from the West Bank clinic. Clinic officials say that approximately 45 to 50 percent of the patients at the existing location travel across the river from the East Bank.

Councilwoman Cheryl Millet voted against the agreement, and others uttered concerns about the future of the West Bank facility.

&#8220The East Bank residents were not complaining about going to the West Bank for services,” said Councilman Lester Rainey. &#8220So why then try to duplicate those services on the East Bank, if the mission is to increase usage on the West Bank?”

Dr. Gary M. Wiltz, CEO of the clinic, did what he could to quell concerns in a written commitment to keep the West Bank clinic open.

Wiltz said he has wanted Teche Action Clinic to have branches on both sides of the river since the 1990s. He said the clinic intends to collaborate with the public health unit to complement services the clinic already offers.