Libby’s nonprofit organization the Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) is shutting down patient services at the end of August.
According to a press release, the nonprofit’s federal grant is not being renewed. The community based organization has offered screenings and treatment for those exposed to asbestos in Libby since 2000, expanding to a nonprofit in 2003 to include research, outreach, and psychosocial services.
“We are deeply grateful to the Libby community and to everyone who has supported CARD’s work for more than two decades,” CARD’s Executive Director Tracy McNew said in a prepared statement. “This community has helped change what is known about asbestos exposure, long-term community health needs, and public health response. CARD’s operations are coming to an end, but the impact of this work will continue.”
Libby is home to two federal Superfund sites, one of which exposed residents to the most notorious asbestos disaster in U.S. history through contaminated vermiculite from a W.R. Grace & Co. mine. Over the years, the CARD clinic has developed research helping illustrate the long-term impacts of asbestos poisoning ranging from cancer to arthritis to lung scarring, contributing to more than 150 scientific papers. The clinic has also provided patient screenings, treatment and monitoring.
Nearly all of CARD’s operating revenue comes from federal grant funding. Last year, the clinic’s grant appeared on a list of cuts the Trump Administration was considering, KFF Health News reported. The clinic also faced temporarily closure last year due to impacts from a lawsuit brought by BNSF Railway. This year, with the federal grant not renewed, CARD will begin “the process of closing and dissolving the organization.”
“This is a difficult transition for CARD, its staff, its participants, and the community,” the organization said in a press release. “CARD asks for patience and understanding as staff work through the many details involved in closing patient services, completing pending work, preserving access to medical records, supporting transition planning, and meeting federal grant closeout requirements.”
The clinic will continue patient services through August 31, including asbestos health screening, lung cancer screening, case management, outreach and education. The clinic has already stopped taking new long-distance screenings, however, as the services require additional time to process and would not be completed before the clinic’s closure.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees the clinic’s grant alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will be working with CARD to ensure the closure meets federal grant requirements.
A few days after the clinic announced its closure, the CDC published a special notice on June 18 for a contract opportunity in Libby for the Asbestos Screening, Innovation and Transition program, “where the CDC seeks to modernize and renew the long-term screening and outreach strategy with predictive modeling and data analytics.”
According to the listing on sam.gov, the website for federal contract opportunities, the government anticipates the continuation of the program to require no more than $3 to $4 million annually. Responses are required by July 2, according to the listing.
CARD staff encouraged patients who would like copies of their medical records to request them as soon as possible so that the organization has time to answer the requests with their limited staff. Community members and participants can stop by CARD at 118 W. Third Street in Libby during regular office hours Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call (406) 293-9274.