Northeast News

August 11, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Residents of the Northeast area now have a neighborhood clinic – at least on Thursday evenings.

Mattie Rhodes Center (148 N. Topping) officially opened its new evening clinic on Thursday, August 11, from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. For now, the clinic will only be open on Thursday evenings. Regular operations will be overseen by nurse practitioners Nohemi Alvarez and Elizabeth Neubauer, with help from medical assistant Vanessa Beltran. Dr. Tim Little of the St. Luke’s Health System will serve as the clinic’s supervisor.

“At the beginning the clinic is going to be run by the nurse practitioners,” said Dr. Little. “But to practice legally, they have to have a collaborating physician who they can ask questions of if they need to.”

For now, the clinic will not be able to provide chronic care for patients. Instead, it will focus on minor illnesses and ailments that can be treated on-site. That’s one of the ways that the clinic, dubbed La Clinica, will be able to keep costs low for patients. Payment for health care services will be capped at $50, with a minimum of $30. The specific costs will be determined based on a sliding scale; patients will be required to provide proof of income along with a form of ID in order to receive services. Another benefit for Northeast residents is that the nurse practitioners are bilingual.

Eventually La Clinica could expand its hours, though that will be dependent upon how busy the clinic is in the early going.

“It mainly just depends on how much interest there is in it on Thursday nights,” said Little.