Rusty Roner spends much of his time driving across the Las Vegas Valley, taking his four foster children, each with his or her own medical needs, to various doctor appointments. There's a pediatrician in Summerlin, a dentist in Henderson and a speech therapist with offices east of Boulder Highway.
Now Roner, who lives in Southern Highlands, will have one location to take his children, all under age 7, for many of their medical visits.
The recently opened Positively Kids Family Healthcare Clinic on the Child Haven campus provides medical and dental clinic services to children in the foster-care system and other Clark County youth from low-income families.
"To have something all in one location makes it so much easier," Roner said during a Monday clinic. "We're not running all over the place."
A joint project of the Family Services Department and the nonprofit Positively Kids, the clinic houses eight medical exam rooms and three dental suites in a recently renovated 5,000-square-foot building painted in an array of bright, child-friendly colors.
Staffed by physicians, dentists, nurses and nurse practitioners, the clinic expects to serve more than 100 children daily once it reaches full capacity, said Fred Schultz, CEO of Positively Kids.
¶"When you take a look at the (Family Services Department) that has 5,000 families and 3,000 children, that's a lot of children who potentially have a cold, need a flu shot, have a fever," Schultz said.
The clinic is open to the public, and Schultz said fees will be based on a sliding scale depending on what a parent is able to pay.
Although the clinic has been serving patients since the beginning of the year, it's been ramping up operations slowly, and on Tuesday will hold a grand-opening celebration.
For many children and their foster families, finding consistent medical care can be difficult, Family Services Assistant Manager Jolie Courtney said.
"The children get bounced around and have trouble connecting with medical providers," she said. "This is a place they can always come back to that really gives families some stability É It's almost like the concept of your old family doctor, who knows everything about you."
The goal is to remove much of the stress of doctor shopping and provide foster families with a location they know their children will be seen quickly, Courtney said
"I would get calls from foster parents saying ÔI called three pediatricians, and they don't take Medicaid,' or ÔIt's going to take three months to get an appointment, and the child won't be with me that long," Courtney said.
A large part of the operation will be funded through Medicaid and private insurance, although the department and Positively Kids will cover some clinic expenses.
Although much of the traffic will be for sick visits, Schultz said the focus is on preventive medicine - wellness checks, vaccinations, regular dental exams and more - to keep children healthy, identify problems early and keep medical costs down.
The clinic is the latest in a line of offerings from Positively Kids, which was formed in 1999 and offers home care, medical day care and skilled respite services.
Schultz and Courtney agree that the clinic is only a step toward addressing medical care for foster or other disadvantaged children.
If all goes according to plan and the clinic grows, more locations will be needed.
"We'd like this to go on for a very long time," Courtney said, "and eventually replicate the model elsewhere in the city."
conor.shine@lasvegassun.com / 259-4059
New clinic emphasizes preventive medical, dental services for valley's foster children
meeting a need
The goal of the clinic, at 701 N. Pecos Road, is to remove much of the stress of doctor shopping and provide foster families with a location they know their children will be seen quickly.
Copyright 2011 Las Vegas Sun
