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On Saturday, Oct. 1stPratt County hosted the opening of the new Agape Health Clinic (AHC).
“It was a very special day to see all of our hard work of the last eight months come to fruition in a meaningful way,” said Sheryl White, AHC board chair. “Finally, the vision of serving the uninsured is gaining momentum in Pratt County.”
A volunteer crew of physicians, nurses and laypersons provided health care services for 11 uninsured individuals, eight from Pratt County. It is one of the few hometown safety-net clinics in Kansas which, at the current time, is open the first Saturday of every month from 9 until noon at the Chandler School of Nursing and Allied Health at Pratt Community College.
The next Saturday clinic will be on Nov. 5 where volunteers will also be scheduling patients for a special dental clinic with Dr. Carson Hopkins, DMD, by appointment only, for Saturday, Nov. 19 from 9-noon.
“It was so exciting to begin serving our community in this way,” said Dr. Eric Clarkson, Agape’s medical director. “In just the first few hours of service we were already making huge positive impacts in the lives of our patients. We were able to begin treating several individuals with newly diagnosed medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
“I am confident that even with this first clinic we have extended and improved the lives of those individuals. That is powerful, that is what this is all about, and that is why so many in this community have poured their hearts into supporting this project," Clarkson continued.
Now, Pratt County people won’t have to drive 50 miles to Hutchinson or 75 miles to one of the free or reduced-cost clinics in Wichita. The new Pratt clinic is a fresh example of local response to the ongoing and growing problem of uninsured Kansans in all parts of the state who lack access to basic health care, commented DeWayne Bryan, director of Pratt Health Foundation and one of the clinic’s organizers.
The problem is considered particularly acute in rural counties. “Research has shown that in Pratt County, we have over 1,000 people who are uninsured. The free health clinic is designed to provide medical services for the uninsured who are living at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level,” Bryan said. “When you add in the surrounding counties, that number goes to 5,000.”
In the past, most of the county’s low-income uninsured people have not had access to a safety-net clinic. Instead, they have either put off seeking medical care, had to travel a significant distance to a free or reduced clinic or used the emergency room at Pratt Regional Medical Center, which under federal law is obliged to help all comers regardless of their ability to pay.
On Saturday, Oct. 1stPratt County hosted the opening of the new Agape Health Clinic (AHC).
“It was a very special day to see all of our hard work of the last eight months come to fruition in a meaningful way,” said Sheryl White, AHC board chair. “Finally, the vision of serving the uninsured is gaining momentum in Pratt County.”
A volunteer crew of physicians, nurses and laypersons provided health care services for 11 uninsured individuals, eight from Pratt County. It is one of the few hometown safety-net clinics in Kansas which, at the current time, is open the first Saturday of every month from 9 until noon at the Chandler School of Nursing and Allied Health at Pratt Community College.
The next Saturday clinic will be on Nov. 5 where volunteers will also be scheduling patients for a special dental clinic with Dr. Carson Hopkins, DMD, by appointment only, for Saturday, Nov. 19 from 9-noon.
“It was so exciting to begin serving our community in this way,” said Dr. Eric Clarkson, Agape’s medical director. “In just the first few hours of service we were already making huge positive impacts in the lives of our patients. We were able to begin treating several individuals with newly diagnosed medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
“I am confident that even with this first clinic we have extended and improved the lives of those individuals. That is powerful, that is what this is all about, and that is why so many in this community have poured their hearts into supporting this project," Clarkson continued.
Now, Pratt County people won’t have to drive 50 miles to Hutchinson or 75 miles to one of the free or reduced-cost clinics in Wichita. The new Pratt clinic is a fresh example of local response to the ongoing and growing problem of uninsured Kansans in all parts of the state who lack access to basic health care, commented DeWayne Bryan, director of Pratt Health Foundation and one of the clinic’s organizers.
The problem is considered particularly acute in rural counties. “Research has shown that in Pratt County, we have over 1,000 people who are uninsured. The free health clinic is designed to provide medical services for the uninsured who are living at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level,” Bryan said. “When you add in the surrounding counties, that number goes to 5,000.”
In the past, most of the county’s low-income uninsured people have not had access to a safety-net clinic. Instead, they have either put off seeking medical care, had to travel a significant distance to a free or reduced clinic or used the emergency room at Pratt Regional Medical Center, which under federal law is obliged to help all comers regardless of their ability to pay.
One concern is that the new clinic eventually could become overwhelmed by regional demand.
“We are concentrating on Pratt County first so I think we’ll be OK starting out,” Bryan said. “But as word gets out and we start getting people from outside Pratt County some adjustments will have to be made, either more hours or additional days. We are happy to start out slow, knowing the patient volume will grow over time.”
In July, the clinic received a start-up grant for $8,126 from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The grant was used to hire part-time clinic director Jeanette Gaider.
“These grants, really, are a sign of being a Kansan,” said Robert Stiles, director of the Primary Care Office within the KDHE Bureau of Community Health. “They’re about local communities looking to meet their needs locally.”
The clinic has received significant financial and volunteer support from the Pratt community for which the AHC Board is extremely grateful. Local physicians are donating their time and church groups have been raising funds.
“A lot of people are involved in this, but it was it was the faith community that got the
