Health Access

Sedgwick County > Health Department > Health Access

Breaking Down the Barriers to Health Care Access

Affordable health care is essential for all Sedgwick County citizens. According to the Kansas Health Insurance Survey, approximately 11.5% of Sedgwick County residents are uninsured – that’s nearly 55,000 of our neighbors, friends and family members. The impact of this problem does not just affect those individuals; it affects individuals, businesses and our entire health care system.

The Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners initiated a community dialogue to research the problem and look for possible solutions to decrease the barriers citizens have to health care access. The first public step toward solutions was on June 7, 2007, when the County hosted a community summit on health care access. Approximately 90 community members attended that meeting representing the health care industry, nonprofit sector, business community, citizens, academia and local and state governments.

During this summit, three main barriers emerged: Coverage, System Coordination and System Navigation. Work groups have been created to work on solutions to each of these system barriers. A short description of each of these obstacles is below.

Resources

Cover the Uninsured kit
Community Health Clinics - An up-to-date list of Sedgwick County Community Health Clinics and their contact information.
Community Health Clinic Map - A map of Wichita that shows the locations of the Community Health Clinics.
Transportation Options
Around the County - Health Dept April 23, 2008 - 18 min 42 sec

Initiative Strategies

Coverage: lack of health access for people who are uninsured or underinsured.
System coordination: lack of health access due to the difficulties of coordinating services between hospitals and safety net clinics.
System navigation: lack of health access caused by people having a limited understanding of options.

The three work groups will meet and work in the coming months, as well as a steering committee which will oversee all work. Commissioner Tim Norton is leading this steering team. Additionally, a County staff implementation team is in place to ensure the suggested solutions are implemented.

History

Access to Health Overview - History/background on how Health Access in Sedgwick County got started.

Work Group Meetings Archive

Because access to health care is important to all County citizens, monthly updates can be found on this page to keep you up-to-date on the progress. Other relevant resources and publications also will be posted on this site as they are created. If you have any questions about Health Access or the Sedgwick County Health Information Clearinghouse, feel free to e-mail Roderick Harris, the Director of the Sedgwick County Center for Health Equity, or call 660-7312.