Nonprofit organizations start youth health clinic

Once-a-week center assists people 24 and younger

Photos by JERRY HENKEL/ViewTop, Dr. Sandra Cetl checks 12-year-old Kajuan Casey?s throat during a free health clinic at the Lord of Host Community Center in Las Vegas on Aug. 7. Bottom, Dr. Melissa Cox listens to 4-year-old Joy Stewart?s heart. The health center opened at Lord of Host Community Center, 4221 W. Charleston Blvd., to serve young people with or without health insurance. Advertisement

A troupe of nonprofit organizations and volunteers have banded together to open a free health center to treat people 24 years old and younger.

What they're offering isn't a once-and-for-all solution to the nation's heath care plight. Those leading the effort know it will only make a dent in the big picture, but it already has made a significant impact on its nearby neighbors in need.

It meant a sigh of relief for the mother of a 1-year-old who got her needed vaccination on a recent Friday. It meant a toddler could get a physical, and a teenage boy could have his sinus infection treated.

"Word is getting out," executive director of Neighbor-to-Neighbor David Osman said. "Now we're talking about healthier families."

The health center opened inside Lord of Host Community Center, 4221 W. Charleston Blvd., last month to serve young people with or without insurance from 3 to 6 p.m. each Friday. The center is first come, first served basis, and because the care is free, the endless inquiries and mountains of paperwork of a typical health clinic are not needed.

"We don't ask questions," said Caroline Barangan, an adolescent medicine specialist who helps oversee the center. "If people can access care for their kids, that's what this is about."

The center will give vaccinations, physicals and treat minor injuries and illnesses. Patients can get a prescription to buy most any needed drug for $4.

Already, a handful of families line up each Friday before the doors open.

"This is something that's always been needed," Barangan said of the center. "It's just more obvious now as so many people have lost their jobs and their health insurance. It's just gotten worse."

This is the second free health center the group of organizations has opened. In May, they opened a small center inside Kelly Elementary School, 1900 N. J St., to provide free care to students.

The health centers are a response to a community survey given two years ago that showed that people living near downtown and Spring Valley were concerned about the heightened violence in their neighborhood.

Osman and Las Vegas senior neighborhood planner Lisa Campbell traveled to Baltimore and Chicago to see how other free health clinics operate.

"What we found is that when you address the issues people are dealing with, like lack of health care, that starts to bring an answer to the violence issue," Campbell said.

Many families without health insurance put off minor illnesses and injuries until they worsen to the point that they end up in the emergency room, the center's resident physician Rob Nielsen said.

"It's much more expensive that route," he added. "Here, we can catch the problems before they get too bad."

The health center doesn't need much of an operating budget, Barangan added. Every one of the organizations involved offers what they can so that as many young people as possible can be treated. Lord of Host Community Center provides the space; Nevada Youth Alliance's Neighbor-to-Neighbor program writes grants; and the University of Nevada School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics provides Barangan and medical students who treat patients.

Barangan, two medical students, one resident physician and a few other volunteers man the center each Friday.

Nielsen said the clinic's method to use medical students to treat patients is a win-win situation.

"It helps us to become better doctors while we're helping the community," he said.

A fundraiser for the clinic is set for Sept. 19 at Town Square Las Vegas, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. South. The health center is in need of donated equipment such as exam tables, privacy swings and weight scales.

Contact Southeast and Southwest View reporter Danielle Nadler at dnadler@viewnews.com or 224-5524.