Visit www.kccareclinic.org to learn more! Originally known as the Westport Free Health Clinic, the Kansas City CARE Clinic is a private, 501(c)(3) organization that was founded in 1971 by a group of concerned citizens to serve the elderly and youth who lived in the Westport neighborhood of Kansas City. Over 50 individuals attended a meeting at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on January 13, 1971, to talk about opening a free clinic in Westport. People attending this meeting were from all walks of Kansas City life…it was an interesting gathering of people from the medical community, from “Johnson County,” and from the free-spirited hippie community! In the 35 year history of the Kansas City Free Health Clinic, its location, its staff, and its services have changed many times. A number of people who were involved with starting the Clinic and/or who were instrumental in keeping the Clinic open through the early years serve on a Founders Council that works closely with present day Clinic staff. Many of these people are shown in this picture on the steps of the Stone House, the second location of the Clinic. The Clinic has always relied on a corps of volunteers and a small staff to reach out to adults of all ages and from all walks of life who have difficulty accessing basic health care due to financial constraints or lack of insurance coverage. The foundation of the Clinic is the belief that all people deserve quality health care and that care should be determined by a person’s needs and not their income. Westport Free Health Clinic
1971 - We believe that health care is a human right, not a privilege based on income or anything else; that health care means caring about people, not just treating their diseases; that an emphasis on health education, preventive medicine, demystification and de-professionalism of medicine must underlie all interactions between staff and patients; that no hierarchical structures can exist among clinic staff or between staff and patients. We see the Free Clinic as a tool to build a new community. The Clinic has always been viewed as the net under the “safety-net providers” of the public health system. As is the case today, back in 1971 the safety net providers could not provide care at reduced cost for all the uninsured and low income individuals in Kansas City. The situation in Westport with mostly uninsured and low income elderly and young hippie residents would just compound the problem. A Clinic offering basic health care at no cost would enable more people to get care, providing care for those who might not seek care until their medical condition became a serious and/or emergency condition. Through the years, the Clinic has been flexible and open to change in order to meet the changing needs of its community. In the 70s
* The Clinic opened on April 5, 1971, in the lobby of the Alcazar Hotel at 39th and Baltimore; the build-out for the Clinic space was done by volunteers including the Founders.
* Dr. Lee Pickering, Chief Resident, Menorah Hospital was the first volunteer physician.
* Clinic services focused on family planning, counseling and drug abuse treatment, and VD screening, lab testing, treatment and follow up.
* In 1972, the Clinic moved to an old stone house at 40th & Baltimore.
* There were up to four co-administrators at a time who were paid with what (if anything) was left after the bills were paid.
* The Dental Clinic opened in February of 1974; the Dental Clinic was staffed by dental and dental hygiene students under the supervision of instructors from the UMKC Dental School. It was a volunteer activity, not a dental school assignment. In the 80s
* The old stone house was condemned and the Clinic moved to the eastside to 5119 East 24th Street.
* The name of the Clinic was changed from the Westport Free Health Clinic to the Kansas City Free Health Clinic.
* The Clinic has been a thread of continuity for HIV/AIDS services since the 1980’s. Through the provision of health education and risk reduction, HIV counseling and testing, HIV primary care, peer treatment adherence support and case management, the Clinic service history is unparalleled.
* Since 1986, the Clinic has been the only anonymous HIV counseling and testing site in Western Missouri. The clinic has also implemented HIV Prevention/Education for thousands of people annually, targeting efforts to those most at risk: MSM, African American MSM, HIV+ persons and their partners, women of color, Hispanic men and women, minority youth, substance abusers/injection drug users and their partners, bisexuals and more. In the 90s
* HIV services were moved to a location at 34th & Baltimore that was provided by the City of Kansas City.
* Overall Clinic services were moved back to midtown to the 2nd floor of a building at 39th & Main; the Clinic later expanded to the first floor.
* So that the Clinic could be a teaching site, the UMKC School of Pharmacy provided a Pharmacist for the Clinic.
* The U.S. Public Health Service placed a commissioned officer who was a dentist at the Clinic.
* The Clinic started providing mental health services to patients in 1997.
* Since 1991, the Clinic has provided HIV Case Management through its affiliation with the citywide integrated HIV Case Management system. HIV Case Managers provide support and services to over 400 HIV+ individuals annually.
* Since 1993, the Clinic has managed the local six-agency Ryan White Title III Partnership that provides diagnosis, treatment, health maintenance, and disease prevention and prophylaxis related to HIV infection. This includes examination, evaluation, lab testing, radiology, diagnostic procedures, counseling and testing, specialty and sub-specialty referrals, and some pharmaceuticals not covered by Ryan White Title I and II Medications Assistance programs. In the 2000s
* The first capital campaign was conducted and $2.6 million was raised to buy and renovate the Clinic’s facility at 3515 Broadway.
* The Clinic was designated a Best Practices Site.
* Since 2000, the Clinic’s Ryan White CARE Act Title IV grant has enabled the Clinic to provide comprehensive, coordinated care for women, children and families affected by HIV in the Western half of the state and 4 counties in Kansas. Partners are: GSP, Truman Medical Center, and AIDS Project of the Ozarks in Springfield, Missouri.
* In May 2000, the Clinic launched Prevention Case Management (PCM) services and has become a national model for community-based agencies and medical clinics. Those targeted are high-risk negative persons and HIV+ persons that are not already connected with the community’s system of care and support. (A CDC demonstration grant awarded in 2003-05 enabled the Clinic to provide PCM for HIV+ individuals.)
* From July 2000 – 2004, the CDC awarded the Clinic a grant for a program to broaden the continuum of HIV counseling and testing, outreach, and prevention case management services targeting African American men and their female sex partners through a partnership with Good Samaritan Project (GSP) and the University of Missouri Kansas City.
* In 2003, the Clinic received one of the seven CDC demonstration grants that were awarded nationally to initiate community-based rapid HIV testing in non-clinical settings including a mobile unit.
* In 2004, the Clinic was awarded a 2-year CDC demonstration grant to enhance the Kansas City EMA’s Ryan White and HIV prevention service delivery system by adding two full-time “Linkage to Care” case managers to work with persons newly-diagnosed with HIV to ensure they are linked to medical services within 90 days of learning their diagnosis. The Clinic works closely with the MO Dept of Health & Senior Services and the KCHD Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS), counseling and testing programs, and HIV care systems.
* The Clinic is the only Missouri agency (and one of only nine agencies nationwide) that was awarded a Prevention Case Management demonstration grant from the CDC from 2003 – 2005. As part of this, the Clinic was trained by the Shanti Institute to conduct the L.I.F.E. Program.
* The L.I.F.E. program, targeting MSM/AAMSM, provides a 17-week curriculum designed to increase self-knowledge about HIV disease and the immune system, improve skills for staying healthy, and impart a sense of purpose and control over life.
* In partnership with Emporia State University’s program, an Art Therapy Program was launched as part of the clinic’s team approach (physicians, psychologists, nurses, counselors, social workers) to behavior healthcare.
* In October 2005, SAMHSA awarded the Clinic a 4-year grant to provide substance abuse, HIV, and hepatitis prevention for minority and minority reentry populations. The Clinic has grown from a small free health clinic located in a hotel lobby to one of the largest free health clinics in the country. The Clinic operates two facilities: a modern, three story, 21,000 square foot clinic at 3515 Broadway and a satellite facility at 5119 East 24th Street in the heart of Kansas City’s eastside.
*In 2013, the Clinic took the new step in its journey by becoming the Kansas City CARE Clinic. It adopted a new mission statement which was "to promote health and wellness by providing Care, Access, Research and Education to the underserved and all people in our community."
