Research has been conducted on indigent populations across the United States as well as the health care facilities which treat said populations. Factors such as ethnicity, language barriers, employment, and adequate insurance coverage all play a role in providing health care to indigent populations. No research has been conducted in regard to the disease profile of clients at Healthy Options for Planeview (HOP) in Wichita, Kansas. HOP is a community health center for patients residing in the Planeview area. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the disease profiles and demographics of those who received medical care at HOP in 2006. It was hoped that the data would serve as a guide to aid in the future treatment of the indigent population in the area and to aid in allocation of resources for HOP. This first study revealed the patient demographics and disease profile of HOP. The data revealed HOP patients to be primarily indigent with chronic medical conditions with 26.5% necessitating a referral to a more comprehensive community health center.

A project presented to the Department of Physician Assistant of Wichita State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Physician Assistant.