Central Community Health Education Clinic held an open house on Nov. 2 for students and faculty to learn more about what the school wants to accomplish with the clinic.
The clinic, which will be student-run with guidance from faculty, hopes to address local disparities by offering care for free to the community of New Britain.
Kerri Langevin, EdD, APRN, PPCNP-BC, the Department Chair of Nursing said the clinic’s goal is to provide multidisciplinary treatment.
“This clinic is focused on holistic care. It hopes to close the loop of care to not only provide screening but also help provide individuals with resources and education,” Langevin said.
Langevin said the clinic fosters collaboration among students across disciplines, enabling them to provide care to patients.
“This clinic is great for students across disciplines because they can all work to help patients in the clinic,” Langevin said. “For example, if a patient has diabetes, they need glucose testing, which nursing students can provide. However, they also can benefit from sports science students making them an exercise plan so they can maintain a healthy weight to help control their sugar. It is like in the hospital where multiple disciplines come together to provide care.”
The clinic’s current focus is on offering preventive health services, including screenings such as vision screenings, hearing screenings, diabetes screenings, foot inspections, cholesterol screenings, body composition analysis, blood pressure screening, and more.
The clinic aims to address healthcare access issues and ensure patients receive necessary resources and treatment, Langevin said.
“Access to healthcare is a problem in this country, especially for high-risk individuals,” Langevin said. “Therefore, this clinic will help these high-risk individuals get screened and connected to care. This clinic will help make sure no one falls through the cracks, which can happen at bigger institutions. We can follow up with individuals who come with the clinic to make sure they are following through with treatment and getting the resources they need.”
Central Community Health Education Clinic hopes to make an active effort to bus in at-risk populations, including individuals from homeless shelters, senior centers, and the Young Men’s Christian Association.
Provost Kimberly Kostelis said she believes the clinic will become accessible to New Britain residents.
“We hope for this clinic to be an access point for the people of New Britain,” Kostelis said.
The clinic will hold a free blood pressure, vision, and hearing screening on Nov. 10, 2023, at 9:00 am – 11:00 am. The clinic is near the Vance parking lot on the basement level of Copernicus Hall. For those interested in more information, email [email protected].
