Marian Clinic History

Topeka’s Marian Clinic, like its sister clinics in eastern Kansas and Colorado, traces its beginnings to the faith and determination of Sister Rosalie Mahoney, SCL. This Sister of Charity of Leavenworth determined that families in poverty must have the same access to health care as other Americans. Her leadership led to the founding of four SCL clinics to serve the uninsured poor.

In 1987 a party of health care advocates from Kansas, among them Sister Ann Marita Loosen, then president of St. Francis Health Center, and Patricia Hurley, a nurse there, traveled to Central America to establish a sister hospital relationship with Roosevelt Hospital in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The desperate lack of health care in that country sensitized the North Americans to the fact that many in the United States could not afford health care either. The women shared the belief that health care, like food and shelter, is a basic human right. They saw that for many individuals and families, even in Topeka, health care was priced far beyond their budgets. Without health insurance benefits, working people could not afford medical and dental services. Many were ineligible for public health care assistance programs. The situation needed a solution. In January 1988, Marian Clinic opened its doors at the Medical Plaza Building in central Topeka. Patricia Hurley was the Executive Director and Sister Concepta Mock, who is still on the Clinic staff, took the lead nursing role. The Clinic began as a primary care clinic with seed money from the Sisters of Charity and St. Francis Health Center. Doctors and nurses volunteered to see patients. In response to need, Marian Clinic moved beyond diagnosis and simple on-site treatment. A network of volunteers and contributions of in-kind services soon enabled the Clinic to add specialty referrals, surgical services, obstetrical care and dentistry, all at low or no cost to patients. St. Francis Health Center donated hospitalization and outpatient services as needed. Community support grew. In July 1997, the SCL Health System named Marilyn Page as the Clinic’s second Executive Director. She began to strengthen the local Board of Directors. The current Board includes 15 members who represent the business and professional community as well as the Sisters of Charity. The SCL Health System Vice President for Mission acts as a Board liaison. In 1998, Marian Clinic celebrated ten years of dedication and determination. Generous donors gave to support “health care worth its weight in gold on a shoestring budget.” The gifts funded a renovation of the Clinic’s facilities to make them more spacious and comfortable for patients and volunteers. Gifts also funded enhancement of Clinic programs, providing personnel and accommodations for mental health, educational and social services. That same year, Marian Clinic relocated its dental program to the Marian Clinic Dental on East Sixth Street and remodeled that facility to better meet a serious need for affordable dentistry among the uninsured.

Today Marian Clinic and Marian Clinic Dental provide health care services for residents of Shawnee County who have no other medical home. Patient visits number nearly 13,000 per year and each encounter is marked with respect for the patient’s dignity. St. Francis Health Center and Stormont-Vail HealthCare donate diagnostic and in-patient hospital services. For all its accomplishments Marian Clinic is indebted to its unique partnership of patients, staff, donors and volunteers.