MILWAUKEE — Services at a Milwaukee north-side pediatric clinic will soon be drastically reduced.
The Children’s Wisconsin Next Door Pediatric Clinic will stop primary care by December, a move that people in the community say will impact thousands of patients in the area.
Within a week an online petition to keep all of the clinic’s services intact has gotten hundreds of signatures.
Parents who use the clinic, like Alma Cherry, say taking away the primary care center will be a blow to kids in the community.
“I just happened to come today to bring the kids for dental treatments and a shot and to hear that they’re closing I’m like ‘Oh my God.’”
Cherry has been taking her family to the 29th Street clinic for over a decade.
“My grandkids, they’ve been coming here since they were born,” she told TMJ4.
The Next Door Pediatric Clinic has dental and primary care services and sees close to 2,000 patients a year.
Children's Wisconsin says by December primary care will no longer be available there citing space and size constraints affecting their service.
At Children’s Wisconsin, we are steadfast in our commitment to provide high-quality care and support for all kids and families in our community. That includes more than 76,500 Milwaukee kids we serve every year through both clinical and community-based services.
After carefully reviewing our offerings at the Next Door Pediatrics clinic and the needs of our patients, we have determined the space and size constraints at Next Door do not allow us to consistently deliver the services our patients require. While pediatric primary care services are being transferred to our other clinics in Milwaukee, the dental clinic at Next Door will remain. We are communicating with our employees and patient families, and will assist families in transferring their care to our other locations, including Midtown Pediatrics, Good Hope Pediatrics or River Glen Pediatrics.
These other local locations continue to accept new patients and provide comprehensive pediatric and adolescent primary care services. We will work with the community and local leaders and organizations to determine the next use of this space to support kids and families.
That decision is something Cherry says will negatively impact kids and families in the neighborhood since the closest alternative clinic is over two miles away.
“It’s very, very convenient for those that don’t drive. If I didn’t have a ride, I could walk,” Cherry explained.
Sandra Garcia was also stunned to hear the news. She's been taking her girls there for over 11 years.
“I hope they don’t close it because I love coming here, you know? My kids love coming here.”
Garcia describes the employees and care in the clinic as something special.
“They’re friendly and it’s convenient,” Garcia said. “The people are nice and they’re like a family.”
An online petition to keep the clinic's services as is has garnered over 350 signatures in less than a week. The petition says suspending these services will impact Black, Brown and Immigrant families the most.
Parents in the area are still holding hope their doors will stay open.
“I’m going to fight until we can keep them here,” Cherry said.
Though primary care won't be available come December, dental services will stay in that location.
In a statement, Children's Wisconsin said they're committed to helping families transition their care to different locations.
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