By Karen Stokes
Dr. Stephanie Findley
Research indicates that Milwaukee currently has 1 primary care provider to every 1,355 residents and that the areas experiencing the highest levels of poverty include 45% of the overall county population, but only 27% of primary care. Primary care providers that do practice within the city are not in the areas of greatest need.
For this reason and more, Dr. Stephanie Findley opened the Findley Medical Clinic, 10721 W. Capitol Dr., Suite 110 to care for huge segments of the population that are uninsured or underinsured for medical treatment.
The clinic is part of the Findley Foundation, started in 2017 as a community organization that works with health care and economic development.
Findley received federal authorization to provide COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots. In the months that have followed, the Findley Foundation has provided more than 4,000 COVID-19 vaccinations. However, the Findley Medical Clinic is much more than a vaccination site.
“We have a primary care clinic for families,” said Findley, “We’re seeing patients who are uninsured, underinsured or insured, we have a sliding fee scale.”
There are many barriers to primary healthcare according to healthy people.gov, some of these obstacles include lack of health insurance, language-related barriers, disabilities, inability to take time off work to attend appointments, geographic and transportation-related barriers and a shortage of primary care providers.
“We’re dealing with the working poor that don’t have any insurance whatsoever,” Findley said. “They don’t realize there’s insurance out there for them. We are here to educate them.”
Findley Medical Clinic received a grant through Covering Wisconsin to help patients navigate and find insurance.
The clinic has a medical director and two nurse practitioners, a medical assistant and a director of nursing.
“Clients are able to come in and have a wellness check, lab tests and tests that they need to make sure they are healthy, healed and whole,” Findley said.
Dr. Findley suggests that even though walk-ins are accepted, it’s best to call to make an appointment.
“This health equity issue is real. I fight against it to make sure people receive the best of care. Our clinic doesn’t have a timer on it. We usually see our patients for an hour to an hour and a half, we actually listen to the needs of our patients, we do a complete scan and use social determinants of health to make sure that everyone that comes through our doors knows exactly what their needs are and we try to provide the resources for their needs,” said Findley.
For more information or to make an appointment call: 414-988-3079