Contributing writer Izzy Canizares reports on the opening of Southside Community Health Services’ new East Lake Street Clinic, a $30 million facility offering medical, dental, vision and behavioral health services to South Minneapolis residents regardless of insurance status, in a corridor where Black and Latino residents face some of the highest uninsurance rates in the state.
While Minneapolis is not in the middle of nowhere, the metro area suffers from a lack of non-emergency medical centers, leaving those needing care to rely on hospitals like HCMC whose resources are already spread thin. At the beginning of May, Southside Community Health Services opened a new East Lake Street Clinic, offering more services for residents with and without insurance.
“Every community should have a place offering a full range of health care services in one, accessible place, but the Southside community is particularly underserved. There just aren’t enough places to care for the people who need it,” U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in a statement about the clinic’s opening. “But now, how amazing is it that people can come to the new clinic and get the very best care you could get anywhere.”
The $30 million clinic, funded partially by private donations and $3 million in congressional funding secured by Sens. Smith and Amy Klobuchar, was built to fill a void in health care among South Minneapolis residents. In Hennepin County alone, there are 32 community clinics, with only 15 offering services for those on Medicaid. Only one clinic, St. Mary’s, offers services free of charge…