A neighborhood clinic opening Saturday at a northeastern Wichita church and school aims to offer close-to-home primary care and reduce costs for people without health insurance.
The grand opening of the Holy Family Fairmount clinic will be part of a community health fair that will include diabetes and blood pressure checks in addition to music, food and face painting from 10 am to 2 pm
The clinic, at Holy Savior Catholic Church and Academy, 3000 E. 13th St. N., will offer primary care services to patients of all ages. It is a satellite office of Holy Family Medical and offers a sliding fee scale for patients without health insurance and resources to help relieve some costs.
Holy Family Medical, which has its main office at 144 S. Hillside, opened in 2000 as a for-profit Catholic physician’s clinic. It transitioned to a non-profit in 2019 to “serve more adequately those in need while also fulfilling their mission,” according to their website.
“Our mission is to serve and provide quality health care in a faith-based environment, and to treat each person as the individual that they are and that God meant them to be,” said CEO Brenda Thanel. “We try to give each person the individual care they need and deserve.”
Establishing the Fairmount clinic furthers this mission because it will make care more accessible for people who don’t feel comfortable in or don’t have access to large clinics, according to Thanel.
“There’s some people who don’t like to go to bigger clinics,” Thanel said. “They don’t want to go out into big, big buildings to see doctors. They’d rather go someplace close to home.”
Healthcare providers Cheriana Robinson, an advanced practice registered nurse, and Alondra Ibarra, a certified medical assistant, will staff the clinic, which will be open from 1 to 5 pm every Tuesday and Thursday. They will offer all primary care needs, including child check-ups, annual physicals and health care for chronic illnesses. The clinic will not have a lab or X-ray department, but will work with the main Holy Family office to provide these services or offer referrals to other providers.
Anyone is welcome to make an appointment; patients do not need to be affiliated with the Holy Savior or the Holy Family. Thanel said the hours of operation will expand as demand increases.
She expects a significant client base coming to the clinic because many of Holy Family’s current patients live in that ZIP code, 67214.
“We just felt it was a good fit,” Thanel said. “They knew we would look out for one another to take care not of just their parish, but their neighborhood.”
Patients should bring proof of income to their first visit if they don’t have health insurance and want to apply for the sliding fee program. If they take any medications they may also be asked to bring these with them, Thanel said.
Creating space for the clinic was in the second phase of the Holy Savior’s Built of Living Stones project. The first phase began in 2018 and included the construction of a church and school. It was completed in 2019 and cost about $12.5 million, which has been paid off through fundraising, gifts, and a dedicated team of supporters, according to Joe Rodriguez, the director of development.
The second phase broke ground in 2021 and was completed last year. This connected the church and school buildings, and housed a new gymnasium, church offices, extra class rooms and space for the health clinic. This phase costs $4.2 million and is still being paid off through a three-year pledge campaign that will end in early 2024.
“All together we can address spiritual needs, educational needs and now have a place where a clinic can address those health needs,” said Rodriguez.
Anyone is welcome to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and opening of the new clinic on Saturday. It will take place at the Holy Savior Catholic Church and Academy. Appointments at both the clinic and Holy Family Medical main office can be scheduled by calling 316-682-9900.
Originally published