The Moab building update presented during the Southeast Utah Health Department (SEUHD) board meeting, hosted on Tuesday evening, took a somewhat unexpected turn.
In January, SEUHD Health Officer Bradon Bradford spoke with the board about the possibility of moving into a building on the Moab Free Health Clinic Campus. Some issues had been raised in regard to space available, whether it would be a good fit for the SEUHD and the cost.
Though Bradford had sent out a summary of what the monthly operating expense would be for the department if they did the move onto the clinic campus earlier that day, he said that he had since received an updated version. That version put the monthly cost a bit higher than was initially reported.
The newly-reported amount proposed, including both rent and utilities, came to just over $7,000 per month. Though it is a nice building, Bradford continued to be worried about space allocation. Though it pained him to say, he did not know if the move would be the best option for the health department at this time.
Brief discussion was had regarding whether or not turning down the proposal would affect the relationship between the health department and the clinic. It was believed that the relationship is strong enough at this point that a decline in the proposal would not hinder much.
With this in mind, the decision was made not to move into the free health clinic space, but remain in Grand County, where that branch of the health department currently operates.