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By: Keishera Lately
Published Jan 30th, 2025
Summary
- SENT Inc. opened Southside Wellness Clinic, an express care facility, to increase health care access in southeast Topeka.
- The clinic aims to address the high rates of uninsured individuals in the area by offering various resources, including Medicaid enrollment assistance and low-cost health care options.
- Services offered at the clinic include walk-in appointments, routine lab work, rapid strep tests, flu vaccines and treatment for common illnesses.
- The clinic will also offer massage therapy and chiropractic services.
SENT Inc. wants to ensure access to health care for residents in southeast Topeka.
Southside Wellness Clinic is an express care facility at the SENT building, 455 S.E. Golf Park Blvd., and is designed to provide accessible health care services for the residents of southeast Topeka.
Trisha Osier-Duvall, SENT community health advocate, said being a native resident of the capital city and growing up on the southeast side, it’s great to have access to such a clinic. She doesn’t remember having that kind of availability when she was a youth.
“I think it’s very important. You didn’t have access to anything like that growing up,” said Osier-Duvall.
Trisha Osier-Duvall, community health advocate at SENT, shows some of the lab equipment available to patients coming in to the Southside Wellness Clinic inside SENT at 455 S.E. Golf Park Blvd. Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.
Health care coverage barriers
SENT intends to provide tailored solutions for all community members, meeting them where they are, whether they are eligible for Medicaid, fall within the 100%-400% Federal Poverty Guidelines or require alternative low-cost options, the organization said in a news release. Southeast Topeka is located in a region with the highest rates of uninsured individuals in Kansas, particularly among children. According to recent reports, this area faces significant healthcare coverage gaps, with many families unable to access or afford the care they need.