Nearly one in five Wayne County residents do not have health insurance, a startling number as the recession deepens and more workers face the possibility of layoffs, possibly losing their medical benefits.
In a report released last Thursday, the state Department of Insurance found that 17 percent of the county’s adult population - ages 19 to 64 - lacked health insurance.
“It’s accelerating again,” said Berry Friesen, a spokesperson with PA Health Access Network, a non-profit organization pushing for expanded health care access for the uninsured. “All these numbers are trending upward.”
And the state study was conducted just as the U.S. economic downtown began in early 2008.
Wayne County, in fact, ranked as the third highest percentage of those uninsured in the state and was also tied with neighboring Pike and Susquehanna counties.
Union County in central Pennsylvania had the highest percentage at 23 percent; the state average was 12 percent.
In all, the report found that more than one million Pennsylvanians do not have health insurance.
In a separate study by Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, it similarly found that 17 percent of the county’s population - children and adults - lacked health insurance over the course of 2007 and 2008, said hospital spokesperson Lisa Champeau.  
But, there are options for those in Wayne County who need medical care. 
The number of uninsured in the county actually helped the hospital gain federal government approval to open “community health centers,” which serve uninsured and under-insured people, said Champeau.
Supported in part by federal grants, Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) - which opened this year - offer health care to those who are uninsured.
Some patients may pay as little as $10 for primary care - based on income eligibility.
“Our goal is to try to give people ... comprehensive medical care for those who have difficulty accessing it,” said Fred Jackson, executive director of WMCHC. “We’re not the total answer ... but we’re there for everybody.”
Jackson has seen more people request their services of late, as they receive patients who are uninsured or now have higher medical deductibles due to policy changes.
“Our numbers are going up both with insured and uninsured,” he said.
Overall, the increasing number of uninsured people is a trend that has been happening for the past three years, he said.
WMCHC has locations in Honesdale, Lakewood, and Pike County - offering medical, dental and behavioral services. A new center will open in Waymart next week.
Doctors and nurses are on staff.