Member Minute with Teresa Lovelady of HealthCore Clinic

HealthCore Clinic
2707 E 21st Street
Wichita KS 67214
316-691-0249
healthcoreclinic.org
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A former patient and member of the Board of Directors at HealthCore Clinic, Teresa Lovelady (pictured at right) has led the organization as President and CEO since 2011. Her passion for education, prevention and integrated care has led to tremendous growth since she took on the top leadership role. The Clinic currently serves more than 9,000 patients per year and recently responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with the initiation of free mobile testing services.

Please tell us a little bit about your Clinic.
HealthCore Clinic (HCC) is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides integrated healthcare to the community. Our integrated care approach means that our clients have convenient, affordable access to improve their whole health and wellness all under one roof—with medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services all in one location. We employ more than 80 diverse team members who are  representative of not only the community in which we serve, but also a wide spectrum of individuals, backgrounds, education, and talent.

Describe your Clinic's most recent success.
HealthCore has always been committed to “Promoting a Healthy Community.” When the COVID-19 Pandemic hit in early spring, HealthCore Clinic’s team jumped into action. The team quickly changed processes to ensure patient and employee safety were first. The team embraced telehealth for not only medical appointments, but behavioral health and dental as well. HealthCore Clinic provided emergency dental services to the community when many dental offices closed. HealthCore was proud to collaborate with Wichita State University, Quest Diagnostics, and Sedgwick County Health Department to provide the first drive thru testing site to the community regardless of symptoms and at no cost to the patient. We tested 1,725 individuals with our mobile outreach efforts; we continue to offer testing through the Respiratory Clinic.

To what do you attribute your success?
HealthCore Clinic has a dedicated Board of Directors that is comprised of 50% consumers. This allows a unique perspective for the Leadership team to learn and improve on services. This includes being responsive to the social determinants of health and providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) that will assist with improving the quality of life for patients and the overall community.

What is your favorite Chamber event?
The opportunity to participate in Board Placement 101 is one of our favorite events. We've connected with wonderful candidates to serve on the HealthCore Clinic Board of Directors. We are very thankful for this connection and the commitment of these young professionals from the W organization to our Mission and Vision!

What is something people may not know about you or your organization?
HCC proudly serves every patient who walks through our doors. We accept most major insurances and offer a sliding scale fees based on income to patients without insurance. HealthCore Clinic provides access to integrated healthcare including medical, dental, behavior health, and onsite pharmacy, along with prevention and outreach programs addressing various family and health disparities, all under one roof.

What differentiates you from others who provide similar services?
HealthCore Clinic is very aware of the social determinants of health that prevent many community members from having access to healthcare. We welcome all patients to our health center by offering affordable quality healthcare to all patients. HealthCore Clinic also provides supportive services to our patients by providing access to health education classes, access to food resources, trained navigators to assist with Marketplace Insurance Enrollment, just to name a few. HealthCore Clinic Patients also have access to discounted medications through the 340b Prescription Drug Discount Program.

How long have you been providing services to the community?
We have a strong legacy of providing services to our patients in the Wichita area since 1998. Gifts, grants and contributions have allowed our 501c3 to expand our medical services, programs and community outreach. The completion of a new building in 2016 was a major accomplishment that increased our visibility in the community.