Women feel comfortable at Midwest Express Clinic

Originally published on January 17, 2020 by Times of Northwest Indiana

The staff at Midwest Express Clinic knows it takes a lot for women to trust them with their health needs, so they make an effort to do things correctly the first time and every time.

“We’ve been there for years now. We’ve built a rapport with these patients. That takes a lot, especially with women’s health. They don’t want to see just anyone. They want to feel comfortable,” MEC Clinical Director Nicole Hawkins said. “They come back to us because they know us and they can talk to us about sometimes embarrassing subjects that they may not want to talk about with a stranger.”

MEC has five locations in Northwest Indiana in Munster, Hammond, Schererville, Crown Point and Dyer. A clinic in Merrillville will be opening soon.

Annual women’s health needs like pap smears and breast exams can be taken care of in a visit to Midwest Express Clinic. But MEC also offers pregnancy and STD tests, treats urinary tract and bladder infections, does IUD removal, birth control prescription, cyst and abscess treatment and screening and more.

MEC can even start prenatal care up to 12 weeks. Many walk-in urgent care clinics will only treat acute issues but Midwest Express Clinic will see any woman who comes in the door.

We have also recently added more services. You can get a gender reveal ultrasound for just $25! A regular ultrasound is just $50. Call or go online for more information or to make an appointment.

“We all have training in women’s health. We can order any tests that are needed, check hormone levels, do different labs or ultrasounds,” Hawkins said. “We’re trained to do it. There’s that and the experience of just being a woman and having children.”

The majority of MEC’s staff is female. Director of Marketing Muhammad Tayyab said Midwest Express Clinic staff is always certified and pursuing continuing education.

“What we can do for all of our patients is consult them on their initial concerns, run the tests, do the annual checkups and, if necessary, we can refer them to an OBGYN,” Tayyab said. “There’s a big benefit to our patients who come to us for that convenience.”

MEC can recommend but won’t push a specialist on a patient. Midwest Express Clinic isn’t hospital-affiliated, like many of its competitors, so there’s no incentive to require expensive tests or extra visits.

Patients can walk into any Midwest Express Clinic location and check in at the kiosk. They can also check in online at midwestexpressclinic.com. The average visit time at MEC is less than an hour and locations are open seven days a week.

“We can do most of the simple things that an OBGYN can do, but we can do them with more ease and convenience,” MEC Clinical Director Kaitlyn Steinberg said. “You don’t have to wait a few weeks to get in. Sometimes you have to wait months to see a specialist. Most of the time, we can take care of it here.”