There’s a new face at Lawrence’s Health Care Access and she’s eager for the challenge.

After years away from her hometown of Lawrence, Beth Llewellyn took over this July as Health Care Access’ first chief executive officer. She has more than 25 years of health care administration experience, most recently from Alegent Creighton Health in Omaha, Neb.

“I’m excited to be here in this space of my career to come back and see if I can’t help these folks and make a difference in my home town,” she said.

Health Care Access, 330 Maine St., is a clinic where doctors, nurses and health care professionals volunteer their time for those without health insurance or those who are under-insured.

“It’s a place that is a health home for the medically indigent,” Llewellyn said. “And for people that don’t have access to Medicare or Medicaid.”

Llewellyn said she’s still finding her footing in her new position and she’s looking to learn more about what HCA can offer in the future.

For the time being, however, Llewellyn said she’s looking to strengthen some of the organization’s current programs.

One of those is an in-house wellness program created four years ago in partnership with Washburn University’s Department of Kinesiology.

The “champion” of that partnership, Llewellyn said, is Washburn associate professor of kinesiology Park Lockwood.

The wellness program is focused on just that, wellness, Lockwood said. And the program, which is located in HCA’s basement, has already seen well over 1,000 patients.

“It’s something that’s more than just fitness. It’s exercise, fitness, nutrition, stress management, looking at certain illnesses and diseases and trying to put treatment programs together that can help people with obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other things.”

Through the years Washburn’s Kinesiology Department created a checklist of sorts that allows them screen each patient quickly and understand his or her needs, Lockwood said.

“(The wellness program) has served the population pretty well,” Lockwood said. “Despite up and down changes with staff at Health Care Access, wellness has been maintained.”

Now that Llewellyn is CEO of the organization, Lockwood said he has high hopes for the ongoing partnership, calling her “very supportive of wellness.”

Another of HCA’s partnerships is with the Lawrence Community Shelter.

“We have so many people here who do have health care needs,” said shelter case manager Sonya Robinson. “And we contact Health Care Access if they don’t have insurance.”

On Tuesdays and Thursdays the shelter organizes transportation for any of its guests with medical needs, Robinson said. They’re then brought to HCA for medical attention.

HCA sees at least four people from the shelter each week, Robinson said.

“It’s really providing for a need that we have,” she said. “A lot of people can get the help they need through HCA or their medication or a referral to a health care provider.”

“I think it’s been going really well,” she added. “And I think that it helps that we coordinate with them to keep it organized.”

Lawrence Memorial Hospital is another significant community partner for HCA, Llewellyn said. Among other things, the hospital provides administrative spaces and shares its medical record system with the organization.

That medical record system allows HCA to offer its patients a bit of continuity and helps health professionals better understand their needs, Llewellen said. And as time progresses, HCA will look to strengthen that bond between the two organizations.

“I think we have an opportunity to keep learning and leveraging that electronic and medical record connectivity and an opportunity to improve further that patient medical record platform and how we’re using that as a basis to interact with others,” she said.

With a potential expansion for Medicaid in Kansas, Llewellyn also said HCA may look into ways to continue serving patients who have found a health home at the organization.

“We establish a relationship with people. This is their health home. And they get just enough better or worse or their circumstances change and they may become Medicaid eligible and they’d like to be able to stay with us,” she said.