TONOPAH, Nev. (AP) — Misused grant funds, sloppy record-keeping, and undertrained staff at state-run rural reproductive health clinics led Nevada to lose hundreds of thousands of federal grant dollars over the past two years.
Services staff hours have been slashed. Low-income women seeking contraceptives and pregnancy consultation have been turned away.
The clinics described as being in a state of disarray in a scathing 2015 federal audit have since seen only deeper cuts until this week.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval agreed on Thursday to replace part of the lost funding.
Nevada is setting aside $1 million over the next two years for family planning services.
State health officials say the rural clinics are meeting demand.
Nurses and public health advocates who pleaded with the governor to approve funding tell a different story.