New clinic in Prairie du Chien aims to keep costs low

Only clinic in Crawford County offering COVID rapid tests

By Ted Pennekamp

For the past month, a new and somewhat unusual clinic has been seeing patients in Prairie du Chien. Dr. Scott Walker started the Fennimore Medical Clinic at 421 S. Beaumont Road on Nov. 23, and the clinic has been doing quite well. 

“It’s been going better than I projected,” said Walker. “COVID-19 has been a lot of the interest, but we are seeing people for a lot of other things as well.”

The clinic is a bit unusual in that it works to reduce costs by not taking insurance and doing no billing. All services are paid at the time of the visit. 

“I’ve always worked for underserved areas,” explained Walker. “Agricultural workers, for example, tend to have very high deductibles for health insurance. Their out of pocket expense is high so they don’t go to the doctor.”

Walker said that a doctor’s visit cost $39 and a COVID rapid test is $49. He noted the Fennimore Medical Clinic is the only clinic in Crawford County offering rapid tests, with COVID results in as little as 15 minutes. “I can test a family of four and have results in under 30 minutes, he said. “If we identify one COVID-positive person and start them in quarantine, we have reduced exposure in the community and reduced the burden on our hospitals.”

Walker said the Fennimore Medical Clinic is working to make health care affordable for small town and rural people.

Walker lived in Fennimore for about 10 years, and so the clinic was named for sentimental reasons. Walker has one assistant at the Fennimore Medical Clinic, Judy Gill of Seneca.

Walker got is M.D. from Case Western Reserve University and did his residency training at Mayo in La Crosse. Since 2006, he has been treating underserved populations in Wisconsin, Alaska, and at other locations.

“We were off the road system in Alaska,” said Walker, who noted that his experience there has helped him to find ways to reduce costs.

“My five years in Alaska taught me a lot about what can be accomplished without high-end, expensive medical care,” Walker said. “I look forward to employing those lessons to help me deliver common sense care to the people of Prairie du Chien. They’ll find we’re very friendly.”

COVID is on everyone’s mind, and Walker said he has filed an application to be a vaccine distribution point. To date, two vaccines, one manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, and the other made by Moderna, have gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and are beginning to be distributed. Walker said he will let everyone know if Fennimore Medical Clinic becomes a vaccine distribution point.

The office phone number for the Fennimore Medical Clinic of Prairie du Chien is 608-326-1997. Dr. Walker’s cell phone number is 608-379-0565.

“I am delighted to make my services available to my neighbors,” said Walker.