Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, (CHC/SEK) originally opened in 1997 on the second floor of a 90-year-old former elementary school in Pitttsburg, KS as an outreach service of Mt. Carmel Medical Center. Its purpose was to ensure that children were “ready to learn” and did so by providing school physicals and immunizations five days a week regardless of a family’s ability to pay.
With the addition of a part-time physician and nurse practitioner, the clinic moved into a modular building and, at the same time, began offering one-day-a-week dental services at a nearby church. The clinic relied on the support of the medical center and small grants and with its sustainability in jeopardy, applied for and received designation as southeast Kansas’ only Federally Qualified Health Center in November 2002.
Facilities now include a dedicated 5,000 sq. ft. dental clinic opened in 2005, and 15,000 sq. ft. clinic constructed in 2007. This facility fully integrates medical, dental and mental health services in one location complemented by an in-house pharmacy which opened in 2007.
In 2008, CHC/SEK opened a state-of-the-art dental clinic in Iola as part of Dental Hub II (an initiative to increase access to oral health throughout the state).
CHC/SEK maintains satellite clinics in Columbus (2007) and Baxter Springs (2011) in Cherokee County, and a Montgomery County clinic in Coffeyville (2012) offering medical, dental and mental health services, as well as discounted pharmaceuticals through a contracts with a community pharmacies. Additionally in 2012, CHC/SEK launched school based health center programs in Pittsburg Community Schools using a 40’ mobile clinic and in the Coffeyville School System.
