A brand-new medical clinic is now open at St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care-Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Avenue. Unlike a walk-in clinic or urgent care, this unique clinic aims to be a health care home for the community it serves.
“The mission of the St. Ann Center Medical Clinic-Bucyrus Campus is whatever the community wants it to be,” says Stephanie Ghojallu, Family Nurse Practitioner and co-director of the clinic along with Dr. Paul Nausieda, MD. The vision for the clinic is to discover the needs of residents in the 53205-53206 ZIP codes and design programs to meet them. “We’re working together with community members so we can understand how to best care for them,” Ghojallu adds. “We want to make sure the information and services we’re providing are what our patients are interested in and need.”
Meetings with the neighborhood are underway to assess health care needs. In addition, the clinic will conduct follow-up interviews with patients and neighbors to determine their satisfaction. “Our goal is to help patients feel we are here for them first, and that they have a voice in the services we provide here,” says Ghojallu.
Partnering with the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) is one way the Bucyrus Campus clinic will benefit the north side. “The CTSI is committed to helping us provide health education as well as design programs which reduce health disparities,” Ghojallu says, adding the community St. Ann Center serves has the highest stroke and cancer rates in Milwaukee County. The long-term goal of the clinic is to bring down those rates by bringing programs that generally exist only at the Medical College of Wisconsin and other large health care systems to the small community clinic setting.
Education, wellness and preventative medicine will also be emphasized at the new clinic. “Not all problems are solved with more medication,” says Ghojallu. “Our clinic will bring holistic and integrative medicine to clients who may not typically be offered these treatments.”
St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, provides community-based education and health services to children, the frail elderly and adults of all ages and abilities, along with support for caregivers. The center opened its second location, the Bucyrus Campus, in September 2015, extending services to Milwaukee’s north side. A grant of $250,000 from Aurora Health Care’s Better Together Fund supported the completion of the medical clinic.
St. Ann Center Medical Clinic-Bucyrus Campus is a charitable clinic staffed with a combination of volunteer and paid staff. All forms of Medicaid are accepted. Clinic fees are set at $35 per visit for those uninsured or underinsured. The clinic is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Appointments are required and same-day appointments are available. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call (414) 210-2430.