'Anyone can come through our doors': Complete Health rebrands to reflect its diverse care for all

Community Health Center of the Black Hills announced Oct. 11 it has rebranded itself as Complete Health. The Rapid City clinic's new name is part of its effort to spread the word that anyone of any age is welcome to seek physical and mental health care and more at Complete Health.

In announcing its rebranding and new Complete Health name, CEO Tim Trithart said the center’s mission and vision is to be recognized as the premier team that provides comprehensive, world-class health care for people from all walks of life.

“We tried to come up with a new name that captures where we’re headed. We needed to let everybody know we are a complete solution, and our approach is different than any other clinic in town,” Trithart said. “Anybody can come through our doors. Our model and approach to care is advantageous to all walks of life.”

“A lot of folks don’t realize they can walk through our doors and take advantage of what we have. It’s the best kept secret in the Black Hills,” he said.

Complete Health’s main clinic and two outreach clinics offer an array of physical and mental health care and “wraparound” support services for people, whether they are uninsured or insured.

“Our first focus was medical care,” Trithart said. “We’ve expanded so we’re pretty multi-dimensional.”

Complete Health provides primary medical care for all ages from infants to geriatrics, and it has dentists and dental hygienists on staff to provide dental services. Complete Health has an in-house pharmacy that offers some lower-cost medications, and a radiology department.

Complete Health also offers mental health services, with counselors and psychiatric nurse practitioners on staff. The psychiatric nurse practitioners specialize in psychiatric conditions and can prescribe medications.

“During the pandemic, we had a lot of folks coming to see us for vaccines and testing and all that stuff and a lot of those folks had never been (here). They were surprised by the variety of services we had under one roof,” Trithart said. “They came for a shot and didn’t realize we had mental health services (for example).”

Trithart said Complete Health is one of the only clinics in the area that specializes in primary and mental health care for the LGBTQ+ population — particularly for LGBTQ+ youths — in its IRIS Clinic. The IRIS Clinic is part of Complete Health’s main location on Pine Street. The IRIS Clinic offers information and resources for youths and parents in the LGBTQ+ community.

“We saw there was not great access (to that kind of care). A lot of youth in town did not have a safe space to go to. It’s one of those populations that had great health disparities,” Trithart said. “In terms of acceptance, the IRIS Clinic is a safe space they can go to and we can get them counseling if they need counseling.”

“What we found is you have a bunch of teens that are looking for acceptance. It’s providing a nonjudgmental approach,” he said.

Complete Health’s “wraparound services” strive to remove barriers that can prevent anyone from obtaining the care and assistance they need. Trithart said Complete Health’s staff can assist people who need help finding food and housing, getting signed up for Medicaid, getting transportation to their medical appointments and more. Complete Health will provide translators for Spanish-speaking patients, as well.

Complete Health’s patient navigators can also assist people who want to obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. The next open enrollment period begins Nov. 1.

“We have non-clinical members of our team that work with folks to identify gaps they may have and navigate them,” he said. “We take an approach that some of the biggest obstacles to getting health care is that (people) can’t pay their co-pay for medication, or they need a ride and that prevents them from getting their hygiene visit to get their teeth cleaned. What we do is take a holistic approach – what’s your lifestyle, what’s your living situation, what’s your background.”

“We see a higher percentage of people who are uninsured than anybody else in town, and who are low income,” Trithart said. “We see more patients with chronic health conditions and our outcomes are on par or better than a standard private clinic.”

Rebranding itself as Complete Health is the latest evolution since the clinic began in 1992 with just one physician on staff. At that time, the clinic opened as Rapid City Community Health Center, and its initial mission was to improve the health and quality of life for uninsured and underserved people.

Between 2003 and 2008, RCCHC opened two additional clinics — the Pediatric Health Center on 640 Flormann St. and the Oral Health Center on 687 N. LaCrosse St. Rapid City Community Health Center also changed its name during that time to the Community Health Center of the Black Hills.

Expansion continued in 2010, when CHCBH purchased 4.59 acres of land to begin construction on the expanded CHCBH Building, which would include pharmacy, lab and x-ray services as well as dental, pediatric and family practice services, all in one location. In November 2016, the 30,000-square-foot building at 350 Pine Street opened its doors to the general public.

Complete Health also operates two outreach clinics at General Beadle School and at the OneHeart campus in downtown Rapid City. Both outreach clinics are open to anyone who needs care.

One of the unique aspects of Complete Health, Trithart said, is that it is a nonprofit health care facility, and its board of directors is comprised of community leaders and people who are patients at Complete Health.

“The board reflects the makeup of patients we serve. It makes us really responsive to what the community’s needs are,” Trithart said.

Go to completehealthsd.care for more information, or call 605-721-8939 to schedule an appointment.