Natchez officials say they want to put their heads together to come up with a location for a satellite office of a Jefferson County health clinic.

That’s good news for the local residents who have been traveling to Fayette to use the clinic’s services. With several doctors leaving the area because of insurance costs and other issues, such a clinic would be a great help to the area.

Finding a place for the clinic sounds like it would be a win-win for the community. First, ensuring that folks are healthy means they show up for work &045;&045; a simple key to bringing in industry.

The clinic would not necessarily be duplicating services already provided, either. The health department generally provides preventive medicine, while hospital emergency rooms do provide the same kind of care as the clinic, but the hospitals’ often incur bad debt from patients’ inability to pay.

When clinic officials brought their request to aldermen last week, city officials seemed receptive and eager to put together some locations where the clinic could expand. Because the Natchez office would be a satellite of the main clinic, there would be no complicated certificate of need program as required by the state of Mississippi.

We hope, for the health of our community, that city officials can work with the clinic to find a viable solution.