In a Manhattan City Commission work session, Lee Wolf, director of the Konza Prairie Community Health Center, presented about the center.
Wolf is the CEO of both the Junction City and Manhattan locations. The health center provides “affordable, accessible, quality, and value-based health care to millions of people regardless of their ability to pay” according to HRSA.
“I have great insurance and sometimes when we would have medical problems, I couldn’t afford the deductible,” Usha Reddi, pro-mayor tempore and city commissioner, said.
When Wolf joined the center in 2005, there were only 15 employees. Now, even though the community health center is a non-profit foundation, there are over 100 employees and are continuously adding services.
“Our goal [is] to keep patients out of emergency rooms that don’t really have emergency situations that are uninsured,” Wolf said. “It is important [to] spend time with those patients and show them the options available to them.”
The center “wears multiple hats,” Wolf said. It receives federal funding and also patient service revenue.
Wolf says they are able to get people back to their jobs or to get jobs.
Konza Community Center has had over 13 thousand patients in both Junction City and Manhattan. They would like to continue to move more into rural areas where health care might not be as easy to get to.
Even though it is a support system to the hospital, they do receive referrals from private practices, social services, emergency services and the hospital. The referrals are sent to case managers for review.
“The most important thing here is that you got to inform and network so people see that this is available to them,” Mayor Mike Dodson said.
Wolf also said another important thing to note is they want to make sure their patients understand the benefits they have. Benefits include discounted medicine and medical devices provided through the facility.
The center hopes to continue to inform and educate people in the Manhattan and Riley County area that services are available to anyone in need.
