Trenton council prez has ‘problem’ with $259K healthcare services deal with Henry J. Austin Center
TRENTON » That’s just sick. Council members are threatening to vote against a quarter-million dollar contract with Henry J. Austin Health Center, the capital city’s only federally qualified health center, over concerns that residents aren’t getting bang for their buck.
The city Department of Health and Humans Services must provide public health services for residents under state law. It has had an agreement in place with Henry J. Austin since 2016, under then-Mayor Eric Jackson.
Health director Shakira Abdul-Ali told council members this week that the city saves about $350,000 from using Henry J. Austin, which serves uninsured and underserved residents.
The city put out the $259,000 contract, requiring HIV and STD screenings, immunizations, and other services for residents, for public bidding.
The Department of Community Affairs determined the shared services agreement wasn’t allowed because Henry J. Austin isn’t considered a government entity, Abdul-Ali said.
Henry J. Austin was the sole bidder for the contract, but council members aren’t sure it deserves it.
One city leader insinuated the deal may be improper because former city public works director Merkle Cherry works as Henry J. Austin’s chief operating officer.
Legislators will vote Thursday whether to ratify the deal, in a showdown that city officials warned could have a “devastating” impact on Trentonians.
“These are people who have fallen through the cracks,” Mayor Reed Gusciora said about the population served by the medical facility.
Dr. Kemi Alli, the chief executive officer at Henry J. Austin, told The Trentonian in a phone interview on Wednesday that the $259K contract represents about 1 percent of its $20 million annual budget.
About 27,000 of the center’s 34,000 visitors since 2016 were city residents, Alli said. Low-income patients pay on an incomebased sliding scale but no one gets turned away if they can’t afford to pay.
Council President Kathy McBride said that during a visit to Henry J. Austin she was so astounded at the number of patients coming from surrounding municipalities.
McBride demanded answers from Alli about how many Trentonians actually use the facility otherwise she said she wouldn’t vote for the deal.
“If someone Lawrence and Hamilton needs some care, they have Robert Wood Johnson, which has a clinic,” the council president said. “They have other facilities that have clinics. They have Hopewell Valley Hospital that has a clinic. What I’m saying is when Trenton forks over the taxpayers’ money in this city, I want it used on Trentonians. I do have a problem with it.”
Gusciora said certain council members seem to have a “phobia of outsiders” coming to Trenton, to work or apparently see a doctor.
Alli told the newspaper she plans to attend Thursday’s meeting to answer any questions. She pushed back against a suggestion from West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn that Cherry’s involvement with Henry J. Austin is problematic.
Alli said she negotiated the deal with the Jackson administration before Cherry was hired about a year ago.
“We keep it really separate,” she said.
At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley called the conflict-of-interest allegations “absolutely outrageous.”
And he suggested Trenton would be hard-up if not for Henry J. Austin.
“We live in a city that is one of the poorest. [Other municipalities’] population does not have the challenges that we have here,” he said. “Just look in Trenton. Look around. And you’re wondering why the Henry j. Austin is here and not on Nassau Street.”