April 8, 2025 • 11 mins
The Manhattan Free Clinic has been providing free primary care for 20 years to uninsured residents living within 200% of the poverty level in Riley County, which has one of the highest poverty rates in Kansas. They're celebrating this milestone while expanding services to the new Community Accelerator facility on Kimball Avenue, which will improve accessibility for patients on Manhattan's west side.
• All services, including medications, are completely free through partnerships with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Memorial Hospital Fund, United Way, Via Christi's Dispensary of Hope, and Shepherd's Crossing
• Success story of Roger, a legal immigrant with diabetes, who received life-saving care when he unknowingly stepped on a nail that became infected
• The clinic employs bilingual staff to overcome language barriers for patients
• New presence planned in the Community Accelerator behind Via Christi, opening in August
• The Accelerator will house multiple services, including childcare provider training and workforce development
• Community support through Grow Green Match Day is critical as they expand services
• Find them listed as "Manhattan Free Clinic" (not Flint Hills Community Clinic) at growgreenmanhattan.com
Please support Manhattan Free Clinic during Grow Green Match Day to help us continue providing free healthcare services to our community's most vulnerable residents.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour as heardon NewsRadio KMAN the GMCF
Community Hour.
Rick Hernandez is in.
Rick is here on behalf of theManhattan Free Clinic.
(00:20):
Hello sir.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
That is me, and hello , sir, welcome back my friend.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Thank you, my friend, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, that is me and hello sir.
Welcome back, my friend.
Thank you, my friend, Iappreciate that.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah, yeah, tell us a little bit about what the free
clinic does.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Oh, man, you know.
For those that don't know,manhattan Free Clinic, also
known as Flint Hills CommunityClinic Inc.
Has been around for 20 years.
We've been doing primary carefor individuals that do not have
health care insurance and livewithin 200 percent of poverty
level.
And if most of your listenersmay not know, but riley county
(00:50):
is, we're right up there, numberone in the state poverty level
plus percent poverty level, anda lot of individuals don't have
health care insurance.
That tie into those.
So those are the two criteriathat that, um, all of our
patients meet.
All of our services are free.
All of that, all of ourpatients meet.
All of our services are free.
All of them, all of them.
Does that include medications?
That includes medications?
(01:12):
Really yes.
So I'm able to find thosedollars through KDHE, through
Memorial Hospital Fund, memorialHospital Association Fund,
kansa United Way contributionsthat individuals like you may
write a check, coming up inMatch Day.
There's an opportunity for youto support direct patient care
(01:34):
to our patients.
So if they can't afford theirmedication, we establish a fund
so that we can help them withthose meds.
Plus, we have a really nicepartnership with Ascension, via
Christi's Dispensary of Hope,just right around the corner
(01:57):
from us.
We send a lot of ourindividuals over there for free
medications because if they'requalifying for our services,
they're qualifying for theirs.
And then we have a nicerelationship with Shepherds
Crossing.
We are co-founded by Dr JimReed, and so we have a nice
relationship with them too.
If we can't afford to providemedication services, then they
can help with those financialsas well, Boy Jim Reed's done a
(02:17):
lot of good things.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
He's done a lot of good things.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Like I said, we're celebrating 20 years this year.
I haven't got Jim Reed on thephone yet, but I'm going to get
him to that celebration andwe're going to celebrate him, I
hope.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So let's jump to the 20 years.
Yeah, 20-year celebration.
What are you doing for that?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh boy, I would love to have just a gala, you know,
celebrating this community andthe support that it's given this
clinic, this community and thesupport that it's given this
clinic.
You know, a lot of people don'tknow where we are because we're
in the basement of 401 Houston,also known at Area Agency on
Aging, and so a lot of peopledon't know, also known, by the
(02:56):
way, as the building wherethey're digging a moat around.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well, there's that.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
But it's quickly becoming beautiful there and so
a lot of people don't know wherewe are.
So this is a great opportunityfor us to establish a
relationship with our communityagain, because out of sight, out
of mind, so bringing our clinicto top of mind, awareness is
really important to us.
(03:23):
It's important in a lot ofdifferent ways all year long,
but after 20 years of beingfaithful to this community, I
think that's worth celebrating,and I can tell you thousands of
stories of how we've helpedindividuals.
I will tell you one a man namedRoger.
He is a legal immigrant fromour neighboring southern border
(03:46):
and he came to this countryabout five years ago.
Roger's had a difficult time,lives in Manhattan for the last
five years and probably hisbiggest hurdle is language, and
that's getting easier.
That's why we have a bilingualindividual working in our clinic
, so that we can help thosepatients that don't speak
(04:08):
English.
However, it took us a littlewhile to establish exactly what
Roger's health care needs were,but there were two primary he's
hypertensive and he's a type 1diabetic, so he's got high blood
pressure and he's got sugarissues.
So he's got high blood pressureand he's got sugar issues.
(04:28):
So through our PAPS program, wegot him on Lantus, which is you
know what he needs for hisdiabetes.
And then we started educatinghim on nutrition and exercise
and got him set up on somemedications for his hypertension
.
So his hypertension came downbut his, his type one diabetic
started directing, you know, hiscirculation in his, in his feet
(04:51):
.
So neurothopy set in.
So long story short.
Just a few months back Rogerwalked over to our clinic from
downtown toward Aggieville andhe was limping.
And once we got down to theroot of the problem, he had
stepped on a nail and didn'tknow it, didn't even know it,
(05:13):
didn't know it and it becameinfected, oh my.
So we immediately got him up toVia Christi.
He went into ICU for a few days, ended up having surgery.
He lost his toe, had to relearnto walk again and establish
himself on a walker for a fewweeks.
But Roger's doing great now.
And you know my point is we'renot the heroes in that story for
(05:37):
Roger, but we're a place whereRoger knew he can count on
coming to, where you know therewasn't a language barrier, there
wasn't a language barrier,there wasn't a transportation
barrier.
We even sent our interpreter tofollow up with his surgeon and
interpret there as well, theyhad some interpretation services
, but you know we hadavailability there too.
(05:59):
So my point is we've been therefor a lot of people like Roger
over the last 20 years and weplan on being around for a lot
longer.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Well, I know you said you have a lot of stories and a
lot of people but that's agreat example.
This is going to be a big yearfor you.
I mean, not only is it your20th anniversary, but you've got
some big news that's going tobe happening up on Kimball
Avenue.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Right.
So I think we talked about thison the radio before, but it's
worth mentioning that somewherein August, they're telling me,
the community accelerator willopen, which is right behind the
hospital, right behind thesurgery center.
If you drive down Kimball youcan't miss it.
Right now it's skinned in green, but soon to be multicolored,
(06:44):
and we're going to have apresence in there.
On the community side of things.
The Community Accelerator willhouse the Child Care Business
Initiative, training individualsto be child care providers,
which Kansas really needs.
So it's a great concept and agreat training center.
Matc will have some educationpieces in there.
(07:04):
Workforce will be in there toestablish workplaces for
individuals.
But we're going to have a smallpresence yet, a presence there
for individuals that live on thewest side that can't get
downtown.
Transportation is still anissue in the state of Kansas and
no different in Manhattan, sowe want to be able to serve that
west side of town a littleeasier but also be there for the
(07:28):
child care business initiative.
So we'll have a sick provideron staff now and be able to
provide direct services forthose individuals that need us
in the present.
So we're really excited aboutit.
Working out some of the detailsof what the schedule is going
to look like, but I can't waitfor it to open.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
We're really excited.
You know we talked about thisbefore we came on the show about
what this looks like initiative, this accelerator will mean to
our community and we probablyhave an idea of the impact that
it will have, but really don'tat this time, other than we
think it's going to be a bigdeal.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It's going to be a flagship, yeah, yeah, it's going
to be the model for, I believe,the country.
And so all eyes are on thestate of Kansas when it comes to
this business initiative andalso, you know, the community
accelerator as a whole.
So I'm proud to be a part of it, proud to be asked to be a part
of it, and I can't wait for itto happen.
(08:30):
Kudos to the people that helpwrite those grants and the
vision for the communityaccelerator, for sure, and
Greater Manhattan CommunityFoundation was a very large part
of that.
So kudos to them, vern and thegang.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah Well, I mean it took some people from within the
community outside of thenonprofit world to come up with
this concept and it's just.
It blows my mind still thinkingabout what we are creating here
.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, our minds are not going to be blown yet.
It's going to blow our minds inthe future too.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Absolutely, I'm excited about it, you know.
This, I think, is one of thegreatest community endeavors
that I've seen here.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
For sure, and just one of many, of course, but it's
one of the biggest for sure,and so you know, kudos to
everybody.
Is that that that made thishappen?
It's I just can't wait for itto happen, and that state
support as well.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, yeah, well, and a lot of local support and a
lot of local ideas.
You know, and when youincorporate, you know MATC as
well and all the things thatthey're looking at doing there.
And we had Jim Jeanette talkingabout that the other day,
Speaking of community support,Dave.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I'm going to direct us back to Grow Green Match Day.
Yeah, how important is that toour community nonprofits and
those account holders here thathave a presence within our
community.
We really need that to happen,bigger than it's ever happened
for us.
This year.
We're talking about expansionin a way, but we're also that
(10:08):
comes with a price tag, and socommunity support is very
important for the direct care ofour individuals.
We're a free service to ourcommunity.
We're not selling widgets.
We're a free service to ourcommunity.
We're not selling widgets andwe're not charging for our
services, so we need a way tohelp pay for those services.
So Grow Green Match Day is soimportant to us.
(10:29):
We have a wonderful databaseout there that support our
clinic every year.
I will say that if you receivethe list of nonprofits, we're no
longer in the F category FlintHills Community Clinic.
We're in the Manhattan FreeClinic category, so look down
the page.
If you can't find the communityclinic, we're Manhattan Free
(10:50):
Clinic.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And you can find that list at growgreenmanhattancom.
Rick Hernandez, always great tohave you.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Oh, it's such a pleasure to see you, Dave.
Thank you very much.
Sight for sore eyes, sir.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Oh, it's such a pleasure to see you, Dave.
Thank you very much.
Sight for sore eyes, sir.
Oh, you're too kind.
Maybe see you down here on the22nd.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I'll be here.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Come down, make an appearance shake a few hands
kiss some babies and stuff.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Look for that skinny guy out there waving his hands.
Oh wait, that's the skinnyblow-up bill.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Rick Hernandez, with the Manhattan Free Clinic here
joining.
Thank you for joining us on theGMCF Community Hour.
Vern's going to be steppingback in.
We'll bring you up to date onsome other things that are
happening in town and in thearea.
We've got some great communityevents.
No-transcript.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour as heardon NewsRadio KMAN the GMCF
Community Hour.
Rick Hernandez is in.
Rick is here on behalf of theManhattan Free Clinic.
(00:20):
Hello sir.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
That is me, and hello , sir, welcome back my friend.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Thank you, my friend, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, that is me and hello sir.
Welcome back, my friend.
Thank you, my friend, Iappreciate that.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah, yeah, tell us a little bit about what the free
clinic does.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Oh, man, you know.
For those that don't know,manhattan Free Clinic, also
known as Flint Hills CommunityClinic Inc.
Has been around for 20 years.
We've been doing primary carefor individuals that do not have
health care insurance and livewithin 200 percent of poverty
level.
And if most of your listenersmay not know, but riley county
(00:50):
is, we're right up there, numberone in the state poverty level
plus percent poverty level, anda lot of individuals don't have
health care insurance.
That tie into those.
So those are the two criteriathat that, um, all of our
patients meet.
All of our services are free.
All of that, all of ourpatients meet.
All of our services are free.
All of them, all of them.
Does that include medications?
That includes medications?
(01:12):
Really yes.
So I'm able to find thosedollars through KDHE, through
Memorial Hospital Fund, memorialHospital Association Fund,
kansa United Way contributionsthat individuals like you may
write a check, coming up inMatch Day.
There's an opportunity for youto support direct patient care
(01:34):
to our patients.
So if they can't afford theirmedication, we establish a fund
so that we can help them withthose meds.
Plus, we have a really nicepartnership with Ascension, via
Christi's Dispensary of Hope,just right around the corner
(01:57):
from us.
We send a lot of ourindividuals over there for free
medications because if they'requalifying for our services,
they're qualifying for theirs.
And then we have a nicerelationship with Shepherds
Crossing.
We are co-founded by Dr JimReed, and so we have a nice
relationship with them too.
If we can't afford to providemedication services, then they
can help with those financialsas well, Boy Jim Reed's done a
(02:17):
lot of good things.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
He's done a lot of good things.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Like I said, we're celebrating 20 years this year.
I haven't got Jim Reed on thephone yet, but I'm going to get
him to that celebration andwe're going to celebrate him, I
hope.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So let's jump to the 20 years.
Yeah, 20-year celebration.
What are you doing for that?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh boy, I would love to have just a gala, you know,
celebrating this community andthe support that it's given this
clinic, this community and thesupport that it's given this
clinic.
You know, a lot of people don'tknow where we are because we're
in the basement of 401 Houston,also known at Area Agency on
Aging, and so a lot of peopledon't know, also known, by the
(02:56):
way, as the building wherethey're digging a moat around.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well, there's that.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
But it's quickly becoming beautiful there and so
a lot of people don't know wherewe are.
So this is a great opportunityfor us to establish a
relationship with our communityagain, because out of sight, out
of mind, so bringing our clinicto top of mind, awareness is
really important to us.
(03:23):
It's important in a lot ofdifferent ways all year long,
but after 20 years of beingfaithful to this community, I
think that's worth celebrating,and I can tell you thousands of
stories of how we've helpedindividuals.
I will tell you one a man namedRoger.
He is a legal immigrant fromour neighboring southern border
(03:46):
and he came to this countryabout five years ago.
Roger's had a difficult time,lives in Manhattan for the last
five years and probably hisbiggest hurdle is language, and
that's getting easier.
That's why we have a bilingualindividual working in our clinic
, so that we can help thosepatients that don't speak
(04:08):
English.
However, it took us a littlewhile to establish exactly what
Roger's health care needs were,but there were two primary he's
hypertensive and he's a type 1diabetic, so he's got high blood
pressure and he's got sugarissues.
So he's got high blood pressureand he's got sugar issues.
(04:28):
So through our PAPS program, wegot him on Lantus, which is you
know what he needs for hisdiabetes.
And then we started educatinghim on nutrition and exercise
and got him set up on somemedications for his hypertension
.
So his hypertension came downbut his, his type one diabetic
started directing, you know, hiscirculation in his, in his feet
(04:51):
.
So neurothopy set in.
So long story short.
Just a few months back Rogerwalked over to our clinic from
downtown toward Aggieville andhe was limping.
And once we got down to theroot of the problem, he had
stepped on a nail and didn'tknow it, didn't even know it,
(05:13):
didn't know it and it becameinfected, oh my.
So we immediately got him up toVia Christi.
He went into ICU for a few days, ended up having surgery.
He lost his toe, had to relearnto walk again and establish
himself on a walker for a fewweeks.
But Roger's doing great now.
And you know my point is we'renot the heroes in that story for
(05:37):
Roger, but we're a place whereRoger knew he can count on
coming to, where you know therewasn't a language barrier, there
wasn't a language barrier,there wasn't a transportation
barrier.
We even sent our interpreter tofollow up with his surgeon and
interpret there as well, theyhad some interpretation services
, but you know we hadavailability there too.
(05:59):
So my point is we've been therefor a lot of people like Roger
over the last 20 years and weplan on being around for a lot
longer.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Well, I know you said you have a lot of stories and a
lot of people but that's agreat example.
This is going to be a big yearfor you.
I mean, not only is it your20th anniversary, but you've got
some big news that's going tobe happening up on Kimball
Avenue.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Right.
So I think we talked about thison the radio before, but it's
worth mentioning that somewherein August, they're telling me,
the community accelerator willopen, which is right behind the
hospital, right behind thesurgery center.
If you drive down Kimball youcan't miss it.
Right now it's skinned in green, but soon to be multicolored,
(06:44):
and we're going to have apresence in there.
On the community side of things.
The Community Accelerator willhouse the Child Care Business
Initiative, training individualsto be child care providers,
which Kansas really needs.
So it's a great concept and agreat training center.
Matc will have some educationpieces in there.
(07:04):
Workforce will be in there toestablish workplaces for
individuals.
But we're going to have a smallpresence yet, a presence there
for individuals that live on thewest side that can't get
downtown.
Transportation is still anissue in the state of Kansas and
no different in Manhattan, sowe want to be able to serve that
west side of town a littleeasier but also be there for the
(07:28):
child care business initiative.
So we'll have a sick provideron staff now and be able to
provide direct services forthose individuals that need us
in the present.
So we're really excited aboutit.
Working out some of the detailsof what the schedule is going
to look like, but I can't waitfor it to open.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
We're really excited.
You know we talked about thisbefore we came on the show about
what this looks like initiative, this accelerator will mean to
our community and we probablyhave an idea of the impact that
it will have, but really don'tat this time, other than we
think it's going to be a bigdeal.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It's going to be a flagship, yeah, yeah, it's going
to be the model for, I believe,the country.
And so all eyes are on thestate of Kansas when it comes to
this business initiative andalso, you know, the community
accelerator as a whole.
So I'm proud to be a part of it, proud to be asked to be a part
of it, and I can't wait for itto happen.
(08:30):
Kudos to the people that helpwrite those grants and the
vision for the communityaccelerator, for sure, and
Greater Manhattan CommunityFoundation was a very large part
of that.
So kudos to them, vern and thegang.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah Well, I mean it took some people from within the
community outside of thenonprofit world to come up with
this concept and it's just.
It blows my mind still thinkingabout what we are creating here
.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, our minds are not going to be blown yet.
It's going to blow our minds inthe future too.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Absolutely, I'm excited about it, you know.
This, I think, is one of thegreatest community endeavors
that I've seen here.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
For sure, and just one of many, of course, but it's
one of the biggest for sure,and so you know, kudos to
everybody.
Is that that that made thishappen?
It's I just can't wait for itto happen, and that state
support as well.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, yeah, well, and a lot of local support and a
lot of local ideas.
You know, and when youincorporate, you know MATC as
well and all the things thatthey're looking at doing there.
And we had Jim Jeanette talkingabout that the other day,
Speaking of community support,Dave.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
I'm going to direct us back to Grow Green Match Day.
Yeah, how important is that toour community nonprofits and
those account holders here thathave a presence within our
community.
We really need that to happen,bigger than it's ever happened
for us.
This year.
We're talking about expansionin a way, but we're also that
(10:08):
comes with a price tag, and socommunity support is very
important for the direct care ofour individuals.
We're a free service to ourcommunity.
We're not selling widgets.
We're a free service to ourcommunity.
We're not selling widgets andwe're not charging for our
services, so we need a way tohelp pay for those services.
So Grow Green Match Day is soimportant to us.
(10:29):
We have a wonderful databaseout there that support our
clinic every year.
I will say that if you receivethe list of nonprofits, we're no
longer in the F category FlintHills Community Clinic.
We're in the Manhattan FreeClinic category, so look down
the page.
If you can't find the communityclinic, we're Manhattan Free
(10:50):
Clinic.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And you can find that list at growgreenmanhattancom.
Rick Hernandez, always great tohave you.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Oh, it's such a pleasure to see you, Dave.
Thank you very much.
Sight for sore eyes, sir.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Oh, it's such a pleasure to see you, Dave.
Thank you very much.
Sight for sore eyes, sir.
Oh, you're too kind.
Maybe see you down here on the22nd.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I'll be here.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Come down, make an appearance shake a few hands
kiss some babies and stuff.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Look for that skinny guy out there waving his hands.
Oh wait, that's the skinnyblow-up bill.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Rick Hernandez, with the Manhattan Free Clinic here
joining.
Thank you for joining us on theGMCF Community Hour.
Vern's going to be steppingback in.
We'll bring you up to date onsome other things that are
happening in town and in thearea.
We've got some great communityevents.
No-transcript.
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