One of the few places that offered health care to at-risk or homeless teens in Duluth, the Wellness Center, has closed.
The free drop-in clinic for uninsured young people in the Duluth-Superior area closed its doors because it ran out of money.
The center operated for the last three years on an average $100,000 budget, which it obtained from federal, state and local grants. But Barb Elliott, a UMD professor and one of the center's directors, said the pool of money to draw from has dwindled recently.
"Those who funded us in the past said they were very sad that they could not fund us again," Elliott said.
The center, located on the second floor of the Life House Building on 104 W. First St., treated an average of 200 young people a year from ages birth to 25, numbering almost 900 annual visits.
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The clinic offered preventative and basic health care such as treatment for colds, coughs and minor injuries as well as pregnancy testing and sexually transmitted disease screenings. All of the treatment and medications provided were free.
The young people who came to the clinic didn't have insurance or didn't have the know-how or time obtain it, the center's leaders said, and the majority of them come from troubled backgrounds and didn't usually go to mainstream providers.
"For many, this was their primary care," said Caroline Woods, a physician assistant who provided treatment at the center.
Having the center function as a drop-in helped ensure that people wouldn't put off getting help.
That was true for 20-year-old Emily Peterson, who said she has been on and off health insurance. The clinic was a place she could go once or twice a month for health care regardless of her ability to pay, she said.
That was not only beneficial for her, but her 3-year-old son, she said.
"For me, if something happened, I could tough it out," she said. "But with Dominick, I could come up here and get him taken care of."
The center's directors worry about what will happen to their patients and the effect the closing will have on the community.
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"These youth are going to wait too long and will end up in the emergency room and this contributes to a huge increased cost," said Caralee Isbell, a Life House coordinator.
The Wellness Center studied its patients and found that before the clinic opened they were going to the emergency room an average of once every three days. After the clinic opened, the number improved to once every 25 days.
"Many kids don't know where to go now," Isbell said.
Signs at the Life House say that while the clinic is closed, directors hope to re-open in the fall.
The center wants to give hope to the young people and not lose the trust the center has built with them, said Lynn Gerlach-Collard, a program manager with Lutheran Social Service, which had helped manage the center. But as of yet, there's no money to re-open the clinic and none coming in the foreseeable future.
"We'll all very concerned about what's going to happen," said Cathy Bergh, an LSS operations director. "We're busy trying to find additional resources to help keep the doors open. I think we need to educate the community on the return of the investment."
For more information about funding for the clinic, Bergh can be reached at 529-2233.
