© 2021
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Free health clinic serves Amarillo's uninsured

newschannel10.com

Hundreds of people in Amarillo are now receiving health care who normally would not be able to afford it reports Madison Alewel for NewsChannel 10.

Heal the City is a free clinic in the San Jacinto neighborhood.  It’s open every Monday evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The clinic is the brainchild of Dr. Alan Keister. After making several medical missions to Central America, Keister knew there was a mission to complete right here in Amarillo.

Keister says, "A group of us have been traveling for eight to ten years, and what happened was on one of those trips we came back and realized we do a lot of great things in third world countries, but why aren't we doing something here and why aren't we serving people here?"

Now he and a variety of medical volunteers see 30 to 40 local patients every Monday evening.  Keister says they see just about everything from flu to high blood pressure, but their goal is to meet the urgent care needs. 

The clinic also offers free vaccinations.

The clinic is funded entirely by grants and donations from the community.

"Whether that's a sore throat, cough, cold, asthma, blood pressure, diabetes, we kind of see just about everything." says Keister. "But our goal is to meet the urgent care needs and then we follow up with them on Tuesday with our social worker to get them plugged into existing social and medical systems in the city."

The clinic also offers free vaccinations.

"We have vaccinated about 500 children," says Dr. Shari Medford, a volunteer pediatrician at the clinic. "The school nurses are telling us kids are getting back in school quicker. The parents are able to come here because the clinic is in the evening and it's just more convenient for them so they don't have to miss work."

The clinic is funded entirely by grants and donations from the community.

"This community has poured out love and support for this clinic and it's just overwhelming because this really couldn't happen without the generosity of Amarillo," said Keister.

He also said he hopes they can expand the clinic to two days a week in the near future.