A new clinic led by students from WMed aims to increase access to healthcare for those struggling in and around the Kalamazoo community.
The Firehouse Clinic, located at 526 N. Burdick St. inside the city’s former Fire House No. 4, opened in August through a partnership between students in the medical school’s Community Health Interest Group (CHIG) and Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries (KGM).
“As a student-run initiative, the Firehouse Clinic provides future healthcare professionals with exposure to individuals who are dealing with complex backgrounds and unique healthcare concerns,” said Pastor John Simpson, chief operations officer for Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries. “We believe this increases compassion and understanding of the human condition, creating a broader perspective within a community.
“By partnering together, KGM and WMed can enhance the well-being of individuals who are often excluded from traditional healthcare systems,” Simpson added. “This collaboration ensures that individuals receive not only high-quality care but also long-term support as they work toward stability, health, and independence.”
The idea for the student-run clinic came about through the existing relationship between the medical school and KGM, as medical students have been offering health screenings at the mission dating back to 2017.
“There’s such a need. There are so many unhoused people here that we were seeing in the screenings that were just falling through the cracks,” M4 Andrew Mattingly said. “We wanted the opportunity to really help them, and this is also a great way to get more experience early on for medical students.”
The clinic is currently staffed by medical student volunteers from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on the first and third Fridays of each month. The effort is overseen by Cheryl Dickson, MD, MPH, chief diversity officer and associate dean for Health Equity, and Mark Schauer, MD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine, who serve as attending physicians in the clinic.
"The establishment of the Firehouse Clinic has been a major goal of the WMed students involved with CHIG. They recognized the magnitude of unmet medical needs of the unhoused and the possibility of a clinic to assist in their care,” Dr. Schauer said. “We are thankful to the WMed and KGM administrations for working with the students and their mentors to make the clinic a reality.”
Conversations surrounding a student-run clinic in partnership with KGM began in 2021. With an agreement in place earlier this year, medical students began renovating the old firehouse into a functioning clinic complete with a waiting room, consultation area, and three exam rooms.
“Medical school is a very unique time where you’re putting all of your focus into one thing,” M3 Madison Laird said. “It’s important to kind of step out of that and see how you can use your skills to help our community move forward and address the things that are falling through the cracks or any gaps. We’re doing our part with this clinic.”
Laird said the blood pressure and diabetes screenings that are held every other Tuesday at KGM bring in about 30 people on average, and now, many of those individuals are visiting the clinic for more assistance, including in-depth discussions about their health, help with refilling medications, and help connecting with a primary care provider.
While its focus is on benefiting those in the community, the clinic is also greatly impacting the students participating.
“Working with the Community Health Interest Group has really opened my eyes to working with unhoused people and the general needs of some of the poorest and most unfortunate among us,” Mattingly said. “It’s definitely kept me interested in Family Medicine.”
Laird hopes to pursue internal medicine in residency, “but I’d like to work in some program with the unhoused, either supplemental to what I’m doing in the hospital or full-time,” she said.
Reflecting on all of the hard work to make this clinic a reality, Dr. Dickson said she is incredibly proud of the students for leading the charge on this impactful initiative.
“There are students who graduated that really did a lot of digging to do this work. That core group of students never saw it happen, but they kept working, laying the groundwork for it to happen,” Dr. Dickson said. “Even now, the third- and fourth-year students, they are doing the work for this to be successful. They are that dedicated, it’s very special.”