The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department has not escaped the budget difficulties infiltrating the community.

The department already has begun to eliminate services and raise fees in response to low program attendance, tight city and county budgets and decreased grant funding.

The department’s budget request for 2009 was cut by $120,000, according to Dan Partridge, director. So the department – which offers low-income people and families medical services at a reduced rate or for free – is taking steps now to cut expenses.

“We serve people who don’t have other places to go,” said Lisa Horn, communications coordinator for the department. “When the economy is tough, it puts us in a tight spot.”

The department has:

¢ Raised the vaccine administration fee from $12 to $14.

¢ Eliminated private-pay human papilloma virus vaccinations. Clients who had begun the three-part shot series will be able to complete the series at the department.

¢ Tightened eligibility requirements for children’s wellness assessments. The department will offer wellness screenings for children up to age 5 without health insurance and children up to 8 who are first-time Kansas school entrants and without health insurance.

¢ Eliminated, effective in September, health screening clinics for people over 60 years old. The two final screenings will be from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday at Eudora City Hall, 4 E. Seventh St., and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday at Babcock Place, 1700 Mass.