Tombstone residents are still waiting for their health clinic. 

But Linda Kamrowski, Sierra Vista Regional Health Center (SVRHC) marketing and public relations manager, said the clinic is still on its way.

SVRHC has hired a medical director and nurse practitioner for the clinic, Kamrowski said. They will submit a request for the building to be inspected and licensed by the state of Arizona during the week of Feb. 23-27, she added.

According to Kamrowski, after the request is made, it could take up to 120 days before they receive the application, but when they do, the clinic will be opened for public use.

There is a rumor in town that the clinic will be up and running in April.

There was some concern about whether the clinic was still opening after the sign announcing the clinic’s tentative opening date was removed from the area and the marshal’s cars were parked in the parking lot.

“I know there are some issues surrounding the opening of the clinic,” Marshal Larry Talvy said.

There were some problems with figuring out an opening date, Talvy said. But he assured the station’s spare cars are parked outside of the clinic’s building just so they can be re-marked as patrol cars.

Brenda Ikirt, the interim city clerk, said the sign was taken down by Arizona Department of Transportation because whoever put it up did not have a permit to do so.

These are not the only concerns people in town have about the opening of the clinic. Rumors about problems with the clinic have been floating around town as well. 

“I’ve heard certain things, that they couldn’t get a permit, and then that they didn’t have a doctor,” Ikirt said.

It’s not a surprise that residents have been worried about whether the clinic is opening; this is not the first time the health clinic has run into problems.

The history of Tombstone’s clinic is shaped by broken promises.

The city had three different health organizations agree to move in and then decide to back out before SVRHC signed up, said William Bone, a former member of Tombstone’s City Council.

Even after he got off the council, Bone worked to open a health clinic in Tombstone.

“There’s a need for it because you have people in Tombstone that, without being hauled out by an ambulance, can’t get health care,” Bone said.

When he came to Tombstone in 1952 there was a hospital operating with three doctors, but Tombstone has not had a health clinic since the early ‘90s, Bone said.

“The clinic would serve the need of local people,” Bone added.

Bone said Tombstone is becoming a town for older citizens, so a clinic would be useful to them.

Also, many people cannot drive or do not have a car, and there is no public transportation, so finding a ride to the local clinic would be easier than finding a ride to Sierra Vista, Bone added. 

Once or twice a month Ernest Martinez, a Tombstone resident, drives his father, who is 88, out of town to receive care for his heart, blood pressure and diabetes.

“[The clinic will] make a difference in my dad’s life and a lot of the elderly people,” Martinez said.

The mayor has been trying to ensure Tombstone gets its clinic.

“I’ve been trying to find out from Sierra Vista what their intentions are,” Mayor Dusty Escapule said. “If they’re not going to open the clinic they need to tell us so we can regroup.”

He also believes that the clinic is a long time overdue.

Many residents agree with Escapule—they are ready for their health clinic.   

Tony Wonderlin, a clerk at Tombstone Pharmacy, heard the clinic was supposed to be opening, but had not heard the reasons why it was not up and running yet.