Healthcare can be expensive and hard to access, especially for younger people. However, there is an accessible solution for Park students with the Central Community Center Clinic.
Ryan Helmetes, a family medicine resident and part-time doctor at the clinic, said the medical resources were available to lots of people, including those from neighboring cities.
“We do services on a free basis for students who are in the Park school system or the Hopkins school system, or if you live in St. Louis Park or Hopkins,” Helmetes said. “The services that we can do primarily end up being things like sports physicals and annual physical checks.”
Although the clinic is easily accessible and a safe option for students, some don’t have a reason to use the services offered, or they just don’t know much about it. Junior Casey Howard said he already has an easy way to seek medical attention.
“The doctor’s office for me is really close to my house so I just wouldn’t have a reason to go (to the clinic) that much,” Howard said. “Especially since I don’t really know the services they provide.”
Junior Erik Muhs said he wouldn’t need to use the clinic because he already has what the clinic offers.
“My physical is good for the rest of my high school career and I don’t need anything else really, so I wouldn’t have a reason to go there,” Muhs said.
Helmetes said a less common attribute of the Central Clinic is the fact that they are primarily staffed by newer doctors.
“The benefit of our clinic is since we’re all residents, we’re all kind of younger doctors and so maybe a little bit more approachable,” Helmetes said. “If you’re looking for someone who you feel like you can relate to a little bit more, a little younger doctor, and where you’re able to get some health care quickly, this is a great place to go.”
Howard said he would have considered utilizing the clinic’s services if he had known about what was being offered earlier on in his time at the school.
“I’ve gotten most of my vaccinations and sports physicals already,” Howard said. “I don’t think I need one because I’m a junior, but I guess it would have been helpful (to know).”
Muhs said he might contemplate going to the clinic, but his decision would depend on what he needed from them.
“It just depends on what kind of medical situation I was in,” Muhs said. “If I needed stitches or something, I wouldn’t go there, but if it was something simple then I might go there.”
Helmetes said the clinic doesn’t see a lot of patients, and although their numbers have been going up since COVID-19, there is still room for more.
“There have been days where we haven’t seen a single patient, particularly with COVID, people haven’t been showing up, but now we’re seeing upwards of 10-15,” Helmetes said. “I think the most we’ve seen recently was 21 people, and about half of them are just here for vaccines and half of them are here to see the doctor.”
