Indigenous Health
Honoring Health and Tradition in Minneapolis The Native American Community Clinic (NACC), located at 1213 East Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, opened its doors in 2003 to address the health disparities within the urban Native American community of the Twin Cities. Their mission is to promote the health and wellness of mind, body, and spirit of Native American families, and offer a full range of healthcare services that include medical, behavioral health, dental, and substance abuse programs. The clinic has six medical providers, five behavioral health providers, five chemical dependency providers, two dental providers and two spiritual care provider elders in residence. Approximately 4,700 patients were seen in the clinic in 2021. The clinic provides high quality care regardless of ability to pay, and all individuals are welcome. NACC combines behavioral, medical, dental, and social services with traditional medicine. The clinic has blended an Indigenous traditional healing model with a Western biomedical one since its inception. NACC strives to honor health and tradition by providing spiritual care and access to traditional healing through their Elders in Residence. To promote traditional medicines and teachings, the traditional healing committee planted sage in the wolf garden outside the clinic. Sage is used for smudging within the clinic and is given to community members. The clinic has also planted tobacco, sweetgrass, cedar and other traditional medicines around the clinic to provide teachings and to be used by community members. The clinic has a wholistic approach to health care, addressing root causes By Antony Stately, PhD
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Spring 2022
of health disparities including access to food, housing, and health insurance with services such as resource navigation, care coordination, outreach, and community-based activities through the use of our peer recovery coaches and community health workers. They offer a wide range of health promotion programs and assistance targeted to the individual needs of their patients and community, such as consultation with a Medication Team Management Pharmacist, outreach by their community health nurse and community health worker, home blood pressure monitors and home A1c monitors, reminder messages to keep up to date on follow-up appointments and laboratory tests, and even YMCA memberships for patients participating in other disease management programs. A wide range of health
education classes are offered that include Native American values and traditions and the clinic provides traditional medicine-related workshops that provide supplies and demonstrations. NACC partners with Community Health Worker Services Made Easy Solutions to assess and assist patients with social determinants of health that impact ability to manage their conditions. NACC’s Patient Advocates are trained to assist patients who are facing social and economic barriers, and can assist with obtaining and navigating medical insurance, housing and shelter referrals, food shelf referrals, assistance with Medicare questions, medical transportation, chemical dependency treatment referrals, tribal benefit information, as well as emergency and crisis support referrals.
NACC provides access to traditional medicines such as sage bundles and our Traditional Medicine Garden where we grow sage, cedar, sweetgrass, and tobacco.
MetroDoctors
The Journal of the Twin Cities Medical Society
