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SHINGTON TERRACE -- Midtown Community Health Center is turning one of its clinics into a medical home, which will provide extended hours as well as better access to physicians.
The pediatric clinic, at 5285 S. 400 East, has two physicians, a physician assistant, three medical assistants and a registered nurse, all available to provide comprehensive primary care to patients. Hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday.
"Medical homes are really taking off nationally right now," said registered nurse Monica Nielson. "The goal is to make the clinic and its services more accessible to our patients, so they don't have to go to multiple providers. It will really help our patients with special health care needs as well."
A medical home is a clinic that facilitates partnerships among patients, their physicians and families to assure the medical and non-medical needs of a child are met. Clinicians help families access and coordinate specialty care, education services, out-of-home care, family support and other community services that are important to the overall health of the child and family, according to medicalhomeportal.org.
In addition, a medical home addresses preventive, acute, and chronic care from birth through adulthood. The American Academy of Pediatrics developed the medical home as a model of delivering primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective to every child and adolescent, according to the website.
Midtown also added a nurse case manager to assist families with communication.
The clinic provided a two-hour class and open house for Spanish-speaking patients and their families Wednesday night to educate them about the change and help them understand the transition, Nielson said. In the near future, the same class will be taught to English-speaking patients.
"This will really help families and patients, because they will be able to have one provider helping them and taking care of their needs, which will cause fewer trips to Insta-Care and emergency rooms," Nielson said.
