Clackamas County is closing its three primary care clinics because of budget shortages.

People living in Clackamas County will soon find themselves with three fewer places to get health care. The county is closing its three primary care clinics because of budget shortages.

A shaky economy is affecting businesses all over, and now it's affecting Clackamas County health clinics, too.

The Beavercreek clinic in Oregon City won't close for up to three more years, but the Sandy clinic will close by the end of the year and the Molalla clinic will shut its doors June 30.

Officials said budget troubles, and the rising costs of operation, are just too much for them to keep operating their clinics.

The clinics serve a lot of low-income patients and people on the Oregon Health Plan.

But now county officials are outlining a plan to do away with all of their county health centers by 2011.

County health officials said they're coordinating with the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic to pass their patients on to them.

The Farm Workers Clinic has health centers in Woodburn and southeast Portland.

They will begin accepting patients from Clackamas County's Molalla clinic in July and the Sandy clinic in January.

Some patients didn't seem terribly upset about losing the clinics.

"Well, I'd rather see this shut down than the swimming pool because there's plenty of doctors in this town," Rebecca Smith said.

Clackamas county officials say most public health agencies in other counties do not run primary care clinics and, now, neither will they.