Heartland Community Health Center

LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2021

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Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photos

HEARTLAND COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER

Revamped center offers a bit of everything for everyone Primary care

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Dental

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Behavioral Health

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More

Remember your asthma or allergies should not interfere with work, school, activities, or sleep 4601 W 6th St., Ste B Lawrence, KS (785) 842-3778

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Heartland hopes its new spot will bring in new patients

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

A HALLWAY IN HEARTLAND COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER’S NEW FACILITY FEATURES ARTWORK BY LAWRENCE ARTIST STEPHEN T. JOHNSON. The mural includes photographs of people using American Sign Language to spell “Heartland.”

By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

It makes sense that the largest piece of art in the new medical clinic for Heartland Community Health Center features hands.

It is an approximately 40-foot-long mural by local artist Stephen T. Johnson that depicts a line of diverse hands spelling out the word “Heartland” in American Sign Language.

Heartland is nothing if not about hands. The

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nonprofit’s mission involves providing a helping hand to people who can’t afford quality health care.

“If we weren’t here, I’m not sure where some people would go,” said Julie Branstrom, chief

development officer, for Heartland Community Health Center. “A lot of them would end up in the emergency room because they would be worried about being denied care somewhere else.”

So, it is not hard to understand why Branstrom was drawn to the idea of a piece of artwork featuring hands of all shapes, sizes, ages and colors being a centerpiece of Heartland’s

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HEARTLAND

Sunday, October 31, 2021

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Heartland ‘a health center for the entire community’

By Julie Branstrom Heartland Community Health Center

When I was asked eight months ago to step in and manage a capital campaign and this building project for Heartland, I was equal parts nervous and excited. Though I’ve only worked for Heartland since August of 2020, the importance of this project was not lost on me.

This facility has been a long time coming and will truly allow Heartland’s staff to deliver quality health care to more people in our community.

Heartland’s origin story began in the late 1990s, when a physician and a group of local pastors transformed a small Sunday school classroom in the basement of a church into an exam room for the uninsured in Lawrence. We’ve come a long way since that time, receiving the designation of Federally Qualified Health Center in 2012. Since then, Heartland has continued to adapt and grow to meet the increasing needs for primary, dental, and behavioral health care in our community.

Mergers and acquisitions with Health Care Access, Douglas County Dental Clinic, and most recently Panda Pediatrics have all contributed to the depth of services Heartland can offer to patients.

Heartland’s mission is simple; to welcome all who need care.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone has the same access to services regardless of their insurance status or ability

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

JULIE BRANSTROM, CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER FOR HEARTLAND COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, GIVES A TOUR of the new facility at 1312 W. Sixth St. to pay. Heartland accepts most commercial insurance, Medicaid and Medicare, and offers a sliding fee scale based on income, which helps ensure everyone has access to the same highquality health care. We are truly a health center for the entire community. On numerous occasions, I’ve heard people say that they thought Heartland was only for people without insurance or

who met certain income guidelines. This is not the case. When individuals who have commercial insurance choose to become patients at the health center, it allows Heartland to serve more people without insurance.

It’s health care that gives back and is an act of service to your neighbors.

Our new facility features 36 primary care exam rooms, 14

dental treatment rooms, six behavioral health rooms, a lab, and a fully stocked food pantry called the Care Cupboard, which is a collaboration between Heartland, Just Food and Harvesters. We will also open our new pharmacy, which will offer the convenience of a drive-thru window, early in 2022.

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WELCOMING ALL WHO NEED CARE

The New Heartland Community Health Center Primary Care, Dental, and Behavioral Health All Under One Roof

Now Accepting Patients.

Make An Appointment Today.

785.841.7297 www.heartlandhealth.org Drive-Thru Pharmacy Coming Jan. 2022

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How can patients benefit from integrated care?

By Ash Nadeau Heartland Community Health Center

Lisa Russell, a primary care provider in family medicine, has been practicing at Heartland Community Health Center since 2015. In addition to being a primary care provider, she is also the family medicine lead and oversees all clinical operations in family medicine. She has a doctor of nursing practice degree from Wichita State University.

Russell answered a few questions about Heartland’s new facility: What makes Heartland different from other providers in Douglas County?

Heartland is different from other providers in the area because we offer wrap-around services under the same roof. We offer different service lines, but care is not fragmented. Primary care can collaborate with dental, pediatrics, etc., to provide the most comprehensive care possible.

We offer medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorders. Patients can have lab work done in-house. We offer Medicaid eligibility assistance.

We also have a pharmacy that allows us to provide affordable medications to our patients, especially our uninsured population. We also have a food pantry to support those with food insecurity.

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Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

THE NEW HEARTLAND COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER HAS A PHARMACY that will include drive-thru access.

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photos

ABOVE: TO HELP PEOPLE NAVIGATE THE FACILITY, hallways include color-coded walls and large directional signs. RIGHT: DENTAL CARE IS AVAILABLE AT THE NEW FACILITY, along with primary medicine, behavioral health and more.

The Design & Construction Team is proud to support Heartland Community Health Center’s goal to provide access to healthcare for all members of our community.

It takes a team to make our community great!

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HEARTLAND

Sunday, October 31, 2021

There’s more than medicine at health center’s larger location Photos by Mike Yoder lll

Heartland Community Health Center’s new facility is about more than just exam rooms and the pharmacy. The center also has a place where people facing food insecurity can get help. Pictured clockwise from left: l The entrance to the Heartland Care Cupboard is pictured in the back of the new Heartland Community Health Center facility.

The cupboard, which will be run in conjunction with Lawrence-based food bank Just Food, will be accessible from within the building or from this back entrance. l Workers put the finishing touches on the front entrance to the new Heartland facility, 1312 W. Sixth St., earlier this month. l The Care Cupboard includes a shopping floor and will offer a selection of fresh fruits, vegetables, bread and readyto-eat items for people experiencing food insecurity.

Client Focused • Community Driven

Congratulations Heartland Community Health Center!

Alcove Development was honored to be a part of the development team that carried the vision of Heartland Community Health Center’s new facility through to fruition! We are excited for the enhanced care and comfort this new facility will provide to the people of Lawrence and surrounding communities.

Alcove Development is proud to continue its service to Lawrence and surrounding communities with projects like this new Heartland Community Health Center building. Other Alcove Development projects you might recognize: Panda Pediatrics

Homestead of Eudora

Lawrence Eye Care Associates

Contact us to help with your project and Let’s Get Building! www.AlcoveDevelopment.com | (785) 856-0339

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one large workspace area for doctors, nurses and other providers. There are no individual offices for the physicians; instead, their work stations are in a common area with nursers and other practitioners.

“The idea is it will foster more collaboration between providers,” Branstrom said.

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vastly updated and expanded home at 1312 W. Sixth Street in central Lawrence.

“I wanted a piece of art where everybody could feel like they could see themselves in it,” she said.

But you also could understand why the center could have also added one other piece of famous hand art: The old Uncle Sam poster with the most famous of pointing fingers and the message “We Want You.” Heartland didn’t hang that art on the wall, but the center definitely does want a new batch of patients to come to the new location. A key part of the moving project — which completely remodeled the former Anderson Rentals building at Sixth and Michigan streets — was to present a new image of Heartland that made it clear the center wasn’t just for the uninsured but rather was for everybody in the community.

“I hope this facility will lend confidence to patients who have insurance to know that they can be our patients too,” Branstrom said of the facility, which opened last week.

Instead of an old poster, though, Heartland thought it could be more convincing with a lot of brand new things. Those include an 80-seat waiting room that features a modern check-in desk, plus self-service kiosks, if you don’t feel like interacting with a person upon arrival. It includes 36 primary care exam rooms — a more than 100% increase from Heartland’s former location — equipped with everything from video

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

THIS VIEW IS FROM THE MAIN LOBBY at Heartland Community Health Center’s entrance. The pharmacy can be seen in the background. screens to state-of-the-art electric lift examination tables. And the location also features a large parking lot, which visitors to the center’s former location near perenniallycongested LMH Health can appreciate.

All that hopefully paints a powerful picture to new patients, Branstrom said.

“I think what patients are going to notice first when they walk in is a beautiful, new, state-ofthe art facility,” she said.

That hasn’t ever been the case at Heartland’s previous location at 346 Maine St. Branstrom said the offices were worn and contributed to the image that Heartland wasn’t a medical center for everyone.

“I think that is one of the obstacles we really have to overcome,” she said. “It already is hard enough when you have the image that Heartland is the clinic for

poor people. That is hard enough to overcome on its own, but then when you have a facility that is older and a little bit rundown, it sort of furthers that misconception that patients aren’t receiving quality care.”

Branstrom said that is why Heartland leaders — along with the building’s owners and major project donors Tom and Marilyn Dobski of the local McDonald’s franchise — spent so much time thinking about design details of the center.

“I think this building is a real game-changer,” Branstrom said. “I think this will really change how Heartland can deliver services to our patients.”

Under one roof While the new furniture, fresh floors and latest equipment might be what stands out to visitors, the approximately 140 employees who run

the center may appreciate something more fundamental — the roof and all the different type of health care providers underneath it.

The new center allows Heartland’s three main types of service providers to be under the same roof. That means traditional family care physician offices are next door to what is likely the largest dental office in Lawrence, plus a team of behavioral health specialists also are located in the building.

“It is part of a whole person treatment plan,” Branstrom said. “All of the disciplines and providers will work together to address the needs of the whole person.”

Branstrom, who previously was the leader of the Douglas County Dental Clinic before it merged with Heartland, said she knows that sometimes a dentist and a family practice doctor

need to consult before a procedure can be completed, for example.

In the past, such an occurrence could easily lead to a patient coming in for a procedure only to have it delayed — a hassle for anyone but a particularly burdensome one for a low-income patient who perhaps had to take a day off work or make special transportation arrangements to get to the appointment.

Now those consultations can be as simple as the various providers walking down the hall to get the information they need.

That working shoulderto-shoulder philosophy is a key one in the design of the center, Branstrom said. The building includes four medical pods for its primary care providers. Each pod — they are named after the four seasons and are painted in colors reminiscent of each season — features

Amenities and more Of course, doctors do have private exam rooms for patient visits. The number of exam rooms is one of the largest changes in the new facility. The new location has 37 primary care exam rooms, up from 17 that Heartland had at its old location. Many of the new exam rooms also come equipped with a new type of motorized exam table that providers can lower and raise to help patients with mobility problems get up and down during an exam.

Other features in the facility include: l Fourteen exam rooms for dental care. Each dental room is equipped with a video monitor that allows a dentist or hygienist to show X-rays and other images directly to a patient.

“It will allow them to talk about oral health with the patients, and maybe show them what they need to do a little differently,” Branstrom said. l Six private offices that can be used for oneon-one counseling by behavioral health specialists on staff with Heartland.

Branstrom said therapy type of sessions are sometimes the type of care behavioral health specialists provide at the clinic, but other times it is more collaborative with doctors. For instance, a behavioral health specialist

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THANK YOU to the Heartland Board of

Directors for this unique opportunity to serve the Lawrence & Douglas County area.

Our appreciation also goes to Alcove Development, Sabatini Architects & Mar-Lan Construction for their efforts to make this dream become a reality.

Tom & Marilyn Dobski McDonald’s Owner/Operators

HEARTLAND

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Sunday, October 31, 2021

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can work in conjunction with a family practice doctor to help a patient better understand the importance of a smoking cessation program or other type of improvement class. In those types of cases, behavioral health specialists will be able to quickly and directly go into the family practice exam room, since they are located in the same building, Branstrom said. l An in-house pharmacy will open in 2022.

Branstrom said the pharmacy will have its own name — River City Pharmacy — and will be open to the entire community.

The pharmacy will be just down the hall from the doctors’ offices, meaning patients can pick up prescriptions shortly after their appointments. The pharmacy also will have a drive-thru lane.

More importantly, Branstrom said, the pharmacy will be part of a special federal program that allows the pharmacy to sell drugs at reduced prices to people who meet certain income guidelines. The program, known as a 340B program, does require patients to apply and meet certain requirements. But for those who qualify, the savings can be large.

“Sometimes there will be something that costs hundreds of dollars versus $15 here,” Branstrom said.

The old location of Heartland did have a makeshift, in-house pharmacy that participated in the 340B program, but Branstrom said the new space will allow the pharmacy to greatly expand the number of drugs it can stock.

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

MOLLIE DAY, CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER, RIGHT, AND ERIN BATES, LEFT, move into the dental clinic area of the new Heartland facility at 1312 W. Sixth St. on Oct. 20.

“We basically had a medication closet at the old location,” she said. l A food pantry open to the community is located on the west side of the building, and will be run in conjunction with the Lawrence-based food bank Just Food.

“It really will function as a satellite location for Just Food,” Branstrom said.

The food pantry is situated so patients can walk through the store-like spot after their appointments, or people from the community can enter the space through its own entrance on the west side of the building.

A partnership with the AmeriCorps organization will provide employees to staff the food bank anytime that Heartland is open to patients.

l Heartland will temporarily use a portion of its old space on Maine Street to serve as a special clinic for patients who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

Branstrom said the center was locked into a lease at the space for the next 14 months, so it decided to use the space by creating a COVID response unit.

The center will do testing for COVID, respiratory treatments, and will be an important way to keep potentially contagious COVID patients separated from other patients using Heartland.

Caring for all The amenities make Heartland look much more like some of the larger health care centers in Lawrence, but Branstrom said Heartland still

will have a mission that’s different than an ordinary doctor’s office.

The center long has offered its services on sliding fee scale. The price of your service is determined based on how much income your household receives. That sliding scale is available even to patients who have health insurance, given that many health insurance plans require a sizable out-of-pocket payment for many services.

“We have had patients who have come in and they can’t even afford the nominal fee that we charge at the bottom of the scale,” Branstrom said. “We treat them because we are not going to turn someone away because they can’t pay.

We just aren’t going to do that.”

Heartland receives about $1.8 million a year in federal funds due to its status as a “federally qualified health center,” a type of safety-net health provider. It also gets some local government funding, with Douglas County commissioners currently considering an approximately $250,000 funding request.

But those funds make up a small portion of Heartland’s overall finances. Branstrom said the organization has a $15.3 million operating budget, and interim CEO Julie Schmidt recently told county commissioners that the organization’s finances had improved enough that it was now at least operating at a breakeven level, with opportunities to improve upon those numbers.

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A big part of the improvement is based on how many insuranceholding patients the new facility can attract.

“We need to be mindful of our payer mix,” Branstrom said. “We can’t just serve people without insurance. Our doors would not stay open that way. It is really important that some of our patients have insurance.”

She said the clinic particularly “would love” to have more patients with Medicare and Medicaid because as those patient numbers increase it improves the overall reimbursement formula the federal government uses to pay the center.

Branstrom said with a new location and more modern offerings, the center will really start making its case to area residents about how using Heartland can make you feel better in two ways — one by the care you receive, and another by knowing that any fees a patient or their insurance company pays to Heartland is used to help provide care to the uninsured.

The latest Census estimate from the 2019 American Community Survey estimated about 8,000 Douglas County residents had no health insurance.

Without Heartland, Branstrom thinks wait times at the lone emergency department in the county at LMH Health would be significantly worse, and so would the health of thousands of people who simply wouldn’t be getting care at all.

“I think Douglas County is really fortunate to have Heartland here,” she said. “If Heartland were not here, there would be a lot of folks having a very hard time figuring out where to go to access basic medical care.”

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Heartland’s new center will focus on integrated health care. What does integrated care mean?

Integrated care is the blending of primary care and behavioral health. Many people with behavioral health problems present first to primary care, and we know that social needs often lead to behavioral issues. Complex patients need more support than what the traditional care model offers. We employ behavioral health consultants (BHCs) who are clinical social workers.

BHCs are a part of our care teams, and patients are often seen jointly by primary care and behavioral health.

BHCs are also available for more long-term counseling services. In addition, we have psychiatry in-house.

As an example, I saw a teenager who had been without her antidepressants due to loss of insurance. She presented to me with severe depression and suicidal thoughts. I assessed her and started medication, and our BHC worked alongside the patient and her mother to develop a safety plan and schedule her with Bert

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Community health centers are designed to address the fragmentation that exists in health care by offering a broad array of primary and preventive care services, including screening, diagnosis and management of chronic illnesses such as diabetes,

“Welcoming all who need care” is the mission of Heartland Community Health Center. What does that mean?

We are honored to care for any member of the community seeking health care.

We are open to everyone regardless of insurance coverage, socioeconomic status, and other factors that create a barrier to receiving care. Heartland is inclusive, and patients from all walks of life come through our doors.

Heartland is a nonprofit safety-net clinic and doesn’t turn away patients who are unable to pay. Why is it also a good option for people with commercial insurance?

When insured patients receive care at Heartland, they allow us to provide care to

A: Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

ONE OF THE EXAMINATION ROOMS at the new Heartland facility. The facility has 36 primary-care exam rooms.

Nash for crisis intervention and intensive outpatient therapy. We were also able to help her regain her insurance coverage. This was all accomplished during the primary care visit, and she did not have to go to the ER or have inpatient care. I saw her for follow up about two weeks later and she was doing great.

How will the new facility affect the integrated care patients receive?

The new facility was designed to have a much more integrated-care-friendly setup, as primary care teams are in pods along with a BHC. This means the BHCs will be able to be more involved in pre-visit planning and will be closer by when needed for consultation or brief intervention. There are also more

private rooms available for BHCs to meet with patients.

Aside from being in a new building, how will the new health center be different from the current health center?

We will be able to have most of our service lines and our administration in the same building for the first time. This allows for greater collaboration between primary care, dental, mental health, etc. We will also have a drive-thru pharmacy on site. The new facility is state-ofthe-art. This is important because we always want our patients to feel dignified, and this building reflects the high-quality care provided. Our new facility is right at the corner of Sixth and Michigan and is much more visible to the community.

asthma, heart and lung disease, depression, cancer and HIV/AIDS. The momentum of this move to our new facility will propel Heartland into a new era of health care delivery. We will continue to be creative problem solvers and will always keep patients at the center of what we do.

As we prepare to throw the doors of this new state-of-the-art health facility wide open to our

community, I can speak for many of us who work at Heartland that we are full of gratitude for the many people who have helped us get here. There are too many to name, but they know who they are.

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uninsured patients. Insurance truly goes further at Heartland. Last year we provided over $2 million in charitable care, much of which is the result of the generosity of our insured population. Any of our patients can access all service lines, so those with insurance can benefit from our collaborative and integrated model of care.

I have had many patients over the years come to us when they lose insurance, and when they regain coverage, they choose to stay with Heartland.

Heartland was one of the first providers in Lawrence to offer the COVID-19 vaccine. What is Heartland doing now to address the pandemic?

Heartland tackled COVID-19 head on, and we continue to do so. We offer curbside respiratory evaluation and

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COVID testing; patients don’t even need to leave their car. We continue to offer COVID vaccines both on site, and we have robust outreach efforts.

We also worked with the county to offer equity clinics, so that we could vaccinate patients with barriers that would likely keep them from accessing a vaccine otherwise.

What is your favorite thing about working for Heartland?

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my patients’ health improve and for them to lead higher-quality lives.

This is accomplished by a team of caring, hardworking staff members who truly care about our community. It is an honor to be able to care for people in my hometown, and I know Heartland delivers on its mission.

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Proud partners for better health LMH Health was founded 100 years ago with a commitment to provide care for fo all – regardless of race or physical, ical, social or financial condition. We know Heartland shares this commitment and together we are advancing healthcare access, equity and inclusion in ways that lead to a better tomorrow. ow. We celebrate Heartland’s partnership in creating healthier local communities.

— Julie Branstrom is the chief development officer for Heartland Community Health Center and previously served as the executive director for the Douglas County Dental Clinic for 15 years.

www.firstpreslawrence.org

First Presbyterian Church supports the work and mission of Heartland Community Health as they seek to expand their availability to and for our community giving everyone access all types of health care. As at First Presbyterian Church, all are welcome to Heartland Community Health!

Best wishes to you as you grow and move forward!

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