Medicine Clinic offers a lifeline to the Phillips neighborhood

Located near the corner of Lake Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Abbott Northwestern’s Medicine Clinic provides cost-effective primary care to adults who live and work in the area.

Most of the clinic’s patients are underinsured, uninsured or immigrants with chronic medical conditions.

“We want people living in this community to see Abbott Northwestern as their hospital,” said Richard Adair, MD, an internal medicine physician at the Medicine Clinic.

Charitable gifts to the Medicine Clinic through the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation:

• support the training of residents who are becoming primary care physicians
• provide emergency and short-term drug vouchers for patients with serious emergency medical conditions
• fund personnel who help low-income, uninsured patients find insurance and other assistance.

Without a primary care physician, many patients would delay care until they faced an emergency, said Carol Slings, clinic manager. They also would not get help managing chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

“There is a consistency in care when a clinic really gets to know who you are," said Tom, a Medicine Clinic patient who asked that his last name not be used.

To illustrate the importance of Abbott Northwestern to the Phillips neighborhood, Adair posed a question. “Have you ever noticed that there is no graffiti on the hospital? It’s because Abbott Northwestern is considered part of this community.”

Learn more about ...

the Robina Foundation Care Guide Project, a pilot at the Medicine Clinic that is helping patients successfully manage chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart failure.