By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

Fayette Medical Clinic is ready to deal with New Year's Day business this weekend with all Y2K safeguards in place, a spokesman said Tuesday.

“All systems have been checked and we're ready,” said David Bradley, president of Sentinel Health Partners, which manages the clinic.

The clinic's computer systems will be staffed all night Dec. 31, and medical personnel will be on duty as usual this Saturday.

New Year's Day typically finds the clinic busy no matter what the year, Bradley said, because most doctor's offices are closed for the holiday.

The clinic also is ready for utility interruptions at all times, not just those being threatened because of Y2K. Ice storms and other phenomena are always a possibility, Bradley said, and alternate sources of power have to be ready to go at a moment's notice in those instances as well.

All emergency power sources have been checked and can be utilized this weekend should anything go wrong with the area's electricity, Bradley said.

He also reminded area residents of another contingency against computer failure, noting that the clinic's doctors have decades of experience, and were treating patients “before there were computers in the office,” he said.