About Us  |  Contact Us  |  Events  |  Members and Advisors   Funding Priorities   |   Applying for a Grant   |   Initiatives   |   Public Policy   |   Grant Recipients   |   News   |   Resources Return to Home                   Turner House Children’s Clinic When Turner House Children’s Clinic opens each weekday morning, there are parents and children waiting to enter. The Kansas City, Kansas, children’s clinic is a major provider of health care for some of the community’s most medically underserved children. Forty-six percent of the clinic’s patients are uninsured; the remainder have Medicaid. Approximately 83 percent of patients are Latino, so the front desk staff, medical assistants and nursing staff are all Spanish-speaking. In 2008, Turner House made significant strides in increasing its capacity to serve children in this low-income community. The clinic was operating out of cramped quarters with not enough patient care and waiting room space. There was a three-week waiting period to be scheduled for well-child appointments so parents would line up in the morning to try to secure a walk-in appointment. Nearly half of the clinic sessions were staffed by volunteer physicians, which not only limited the number of appointment slots but also affected continuity of care. In addition, after-hours clinics were limited and inconsistent, which created challenges for working families. With community support, in 2008 the clinic nearly doubled its space. Evening and Saturday clinics were added to provide more options for families. A Core Operating Grant from REACH supported the clinic’s full-time physician/medical director and other medical staff, and enabled the clinic to contract for a part-time bilingual nurse practitioner. These changes helped Turner House increase the number of appointment slots, better manage patient flow, and improve the continuity and coordination of care. The clinic also introduced an asthma management program to address one of the predominant pediatric health issues in the community. Turner House provided 7,000 patient visits in 2008, but expects to see that number grow in the coming year. Copyright © 2010 REACH Healthcare Foundation. All Rights Reserved   Acceptable Use Site by Digital Evolution Group, LLC