Wichita, Kansas, is a community in need of medical care that is free or costs very little. In Sedgwick County where Wichita is located, 13.2 percent of residents are without health care coverage, equating to around 58,000 people who have to pay for their health care out of pocket. Thanks to a number of free and low-cost health clinics these Kansans are able to receive some health care. You can access this health care most easily by finding a health clinic near you, such as Guadalupe Clinic, Hunter Health Clinic or GraceMed Health Clinic
Volunteers
Much of the health care available to you if you are a low-income resident of Wichita is provided through clinics staffed by volunteers and with donated medicine, equipment and diagnostics. Guadalupe Clinic is an example of an almost all-volunteer clinic. At Guadalupe you will find more than 250 medical and nonmedical volunteers providing general and specialty care. Donations of services by local hospitals and laboratories make lab tests and diagnostics free to you. Some medicines are donated by pharmaceutical companies.
Professional Cooperation
A program in Wichita called Project Access is an example of health care access made possible to you by a network of health care professionals who cooperate to serve low-income residents of the city. In programs like this one physicians and other health care providers donate their time to see patients, in this case at a series of health clinics in the city. In the first five years of operations 4,700 patients were treated by Project Access physicians and they received more than $24 million in donated medical care. More than 570 physicians are active volunteers in the program.
Payment
The Wichita clinics that provide low-cost or free health care have various systems for payment. Clinics will ask you for some indication of your income level. When this is established, the staff will check to see if you are eligible for entitlement programs such as Medicaid, Medicare or any other state or federal medical offerings. If no entitlements are available the clinic will treat you free of charge, request a flat-fee donation (such as $5) or establish an amount based on what you can afford to pay.
Targeted Care
The medical options for low-income people in Wichita include some programs that target a specific population or health condition. One example is the Hunter Health Clinic, which was started in 1976 to serve the city's Native American low-income community. Today it provides health care to all low-income residents of Wichita but the organization has not forgotten its origins. If you are a Native American, low-income patient you will find staff there who understand your culture and challenges. It is the only urban Native American health program in Kansas.
Access
Clinics that serve you and other low-income residents of Wichita are located in neighborhoods where their services are most needed. The Good Samaritan Clinic serves over 3,000 patients each year. Ninety-seven percent of them are below the poverty line. To secure access to health care at the clinic you should call Good Samaritan Clinic for an appointment. The phone staff will ask you some screening questions to see if you are eligible. If so, an appointment will be made for you. You may be asked to bring some paperwork to the appointment indicating any means of support you may be receiving.
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