Midtown Health is offering a reproductive health clinic once a month at the student health office at Providence Medical Center in Wayne where women can receive free birth control and education around reproductive health.
The Midtown Health Center is in Norfolk and offers a clinic for Wayne State College students. Students can attend this clinic to receive free reproductive health care. While the clinic is mainly focused on women’s health, it also offers free STD testing and education around reproductive health, making it beneficial to men as well.
“We get grants from the government to try to get affordable care to people that do not have insurance or are underinsured,” Mary Smith, an advanced practice registered nurse specialized in women’s health with Midtown, said.
Part of what the center does is outreach, going to places not in an office that need their help. Smith comes to campus once a month, usually the fourth Thursday of the month. Due to the holidays, the next two clinic dates are on Nov. 16 and Dec. 14, 2023.
The RN in the student health office Kathy Bird said students can go into the student health office in the Kanter Student Center and make an appointment. The clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with appointments every 30 minutes on the days the clinic is open, Bird said.
The clinic provides almost all kinds of birth control, pap smears, STD testing and more.
“Being at Wayne, students don’t have any other clinics like ours where they can get affordable or free birth control and women’s health services,” Smith said.
Unless the student is over the age of 25, the clinic is 100% free to students over the age of 25 and they must do an analysis to determine how much the services will cost.
If students need reproductive health care, they can visit student health at any time for free STD testing and an appointment with the nurse practitioner at the hospital student health location. The services are free, though the clinic is where students will be able to get free birth control, Bird said.
The center also offers various other health services at offices located in West Point, Madison and Norfolk, Nebraska. These include medical, dental and mental health services, all for free or at an affordable cost. If these services are needed, visit https://midtownhealthne.org or call at 402-371-8000 to make an appointment at the office during business hours, after business hours call 502-363-8973 to get in touch with the after-hours nurse.
