CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -

Financial problems have forced a chain of clinics to close their doors for good. Neighborhood Health Care patients will now have to scramble to find health care somewhere else.

There's a letter to patients taped inside the door at the Neighborhood Health Center in Norwood, explaining that they'll have to find their health care services elsewhere.

The letter is the only notice many patients received.

Lorren Ratley of Anderson Township learned of the closure only days ago. She's been coming to Neighborhood Health care for years with her family.

"My husband and the kids - because he doesn't make anything. So because premiums for his coverage at work are expensive, he was coming here and paying, you know. It's not free," explains Ratley.

Gary Phillips says he's had a hard tome getting information about the closure.

"I've tried eight or twelve times and let it ring 30 to 40 times," says Phillips. "No one has picked up the phone."

Plans to merge the Neighborhood Health Care with the Kentucky-based HealthPoint drew strong opposition from the Cincinnati Health Department and other health car providers.

"All of these providers raised questions about HealthPoint's ability to provide services," explains Rocky Merz of the Cincinnati Health Department. "Do they have the capacity to do what they say they're going to do? Can they operate in an urban environment?"

Originally posted here:

Neighborhood Health Care patients scramble to find new services