Longtime Burnsville Clinic Treats All Regardless Of Insurance

BURNSVILLE, MN— For over 20 years, nonprofit Dakota Child and Family Clinic, run fully through nurse practitioners, has provided care to community members, regardless of whether or not they had insurance or could afford it.

Heather Tidd, community relations director and interim executive director for the clinic located on Horizon Drive in Burnsville, told Patch that about 50 percent of the clinic’s patients are from Dakota County, 25 percent are from Hennepin County and the remaining 25 percent are from elsewhere in the state. Some patients visit the clinic from out-of-state, Tidd said.

Dakota Child and Family was the first clinic run fully by nurse practitioners to open in the Midwest, Tidd said.

Tidd said that overall health is made up of only 20 percent actual health care, the rest being made up of social determinants such as having enough food or a place to sleep. The clinic works on treating both of these factors, unlike many health care providers. Oftentimes this difference helps the “whole” patient get treated, Tidd said.

Dakota Child and Family officially became a nonprofit eight years ago, but has always provided this level of care to patients, Tidd said.

“The community we serve just sometimes needs some extra support,” Tidd said. “About 40-48 percent of our patients are underinsured or uninsured, so they can't get the same quality care somewhere else, or they can't get care at all anywhere else.”

For these patients, Tidd said the clinic works to charge the minimum possible amount for care.

“If you don't have insurance, we're going to help you with the minimum possible payment we can get you and we're not going to turn anybody away,” Tidd said. “That’s the main goal for being nonprofit — not turning anyone away and believing that everybody, regardless of their ability to pay, deserves quality health care.”

The clinic was originally founded by Gretchen Moen, whose father ran a clinic out of their family home for many years, Tidd said. Moen founded the clinic with the goal of having the same community feel as her father’s clinic, Tidd told Patch.

Dakota Child and Family now has six providers and serves over 5,000 patients, Tidd said.

The clinic also sees mental health as a priority, as around 70 to 80 percent of its patients struggle with mental illness, Tidd said.

The clinic also partners with Open Cities and Children’s Dental Services to provide vision checks and dental care to uninsured patients, bringing the specialists in monthly, Tidd said.

Tidd said the clinic also has given over 10,000 COVID-19 tests. Last summer, Dakota County reached out to the clinic and asked for help administering tests, so the clinic began drive-up testing, Tidd said. Now, testing is offered three days per week.

Dakota Child and Family is also always looking for volunteers, Tidd said.