DocTalk: Health Centers serve a purpose

August 6-12 was nationally recognized as Health Center week, at the state level Governor Pillen signed a proclamation recognizing National Health Center week in the state of Nebraska as well. Although this week has come and gone, we can still use this time to recognize all that the Health Centers of Nebraska do for our communities.

Midtown Health Center is the local health center serving the Norfolk, Madison and West Point areas, but there are seven total Health Centers in the state serving a total of 113,528 patients in 62 counties in 2022 according to the Heath Center Association of Nebraska (HCAN). Out of these patients, 37% of them are uninsured, meaning that Health Centers in the state are not just for the uninsured.

“Our goal is to serve people and families with barriers to traditional care, Kathy Nordby, Midtown CEO said. “This includes issues like lack of adequate insurance, language barriers, or transportation issues but, we provide great care for anyone in the community in an integrated whole person model of care.”

Health Centers serve a purpose by keeping patients that would typically seek out care within an Emergency Room, leaving behind a bill they are unable to pay. Ninety two percent of the state Health Center patient population are at or below 200% of the poverty line. The seven state Health Centers have saved the overall health system $180 million by operating.

“People easily ignore the need in our area, but last year over 600 of our patients were experiencing homelessness,” Nordby said.

Midtown Health Center served a total of 8,176 patients in 2022 and provides medical, dental and behavioral health services. All patients are welcome, uninsured and insured.

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Midtown Health Center’s DocTalk is a collaborative effort of the Dr. Emily Vuchetich, Chief Medical Officer; Dr. David Seger, Chief Dental Officer; Dr. Josh Turek, Chief Behavioral Health Officer as well as Midtown’s other providers. For a full list of Midtown’s providers as well as more information about Midtown please visit Midtownhealthne.org.