Guadalupe Clinic celebrates 30th anniversary
Daniel Tapati knew there was a health care crisis in Wichita from the moment he started practicing medicine in 1977.
He was seeing patients who could not afford care, and he realized the need for a clinic that served the less fortunate.
In 1985, Tapati and six volunteer nurses founded the Guadalupe Clinic on South St. Francis.
In its first year, it saw about 600 people, Tapati said.
In 2014, it provided 26,656 services for Wichitans – with 273 medical volunteers donating more than 6,500 hours to the clinic.
“It has just kept multiplying,” Tapati said. “There has always been a need – it’s just that more and more people were aware of it.”
The Guadalupe Clinic, a medical clinic that provides health care for those in need, celebrated its 30-year anniversary on Saturday.
The clinic is entirely donation-based, serving the uninsured and the immigrant population of Wichita.
The recommended donation for a visit is $5, but the clinic still sees patients if they cannot afford the $5.
“We have been able to remove all the barriers most people find to health care,” said David Gear, the clinic’s executive director. “The biggest barrier is cost. So many people are just afraid: ‘What is this going to cost me?’ That barrier is completely removed.”
Tapati and the other doctors who practice at the clinic – including at least one in his mid-80s – volunteer at least four hours a month there.
The Guadalupe Clinic, which is affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, now has three locations in Wichita – at 940 S. St Francis, 841 N. Broadway and 2825 S. Hillside.
Alice Wiggins has been a nurse with the Guadalupe Clinic since its founding in 1985.
She began volunteering there soon after receiving her degree at Newman University, she said.
“It’s very rewarding,” Wiggins said. “You go home after volunteering here and you’re always so grateful for being able to be here, but also for what the patients do for us mentally … knowing that we were able to help along the way.”
Matt Riedl: 316-268-6660, @RiedlMatt
Clinic hours
The Guadalupe Clinic serves people ages 18 to 64 without health insurance of any kind. Patients must have an income within 200 percent of the federal poverty level, must not be under the care of any other physician, and must have no workers’ compensation or other insurance claims. For more information, call 316-264-8974. All locations are closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch.
940 S. St. Francis – 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday; 1 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 9 a.m. to noon Saturday
2825 S. Hillside – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday; 1 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday
841 N. Broadway – 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday
This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Guadalupe Clinic celebrates 30th anniversary."