EAST ALTON - Airline Care Clinic offers an affordable alternative to urgent care and emergency rooms.
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When Elizabeth “Betsy” Dykeman opened Airline Care Clinic at the Rosewood Chiropractic office in East Alton, her goal was to provide testing, physicals and other outpatient services needed by the community. Dykeman is proud of how the clinic has grown and eager to welcome more patients.
“I’m just trying to help out,” she said. “There are just so many people that fall through the cracks. They charge a lot of money for sports physicals and Department of Transportation physicals, and then there’s people that can’t get into their primary care provider for an earache or sore throat or sinus infection. I’m here to provide that.”
Located at 33 East Airline Drive in East Alton, Airline Care Clinic offers walk-ins from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and, starting on June 15, 2025, 6–9 p.m. on Sundays. You can also call Dykeman at (618) 908-8602 to schedule an appointment.
Pregnancy, strep throat and UTI tests provide quick results and same-day care for $40. Dykeman offers physicals that fulfill a variety of requirements, from sports and school physicals to Department of Transportation physicals. Sports and school physicals cost $50 but will drop to $40 for a back-to-school special in July.
Most minor illnesses, including fevers, coughs and other symptoms that typically send patients to urgent care, can also be taken care of at Airline.
Dykeman noted that urgent care and emergency care costs are usually “outrageous,” and she aims to relieve the burden on urgent care and emergency rooms at a cost that’s no more than a typical insurance co-pay. She currently accepts Medicare, Medicaid and cash.
Dykeman spent most of her over 35-year career at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis as a critical care nurse. She eventually transferred to treat women and infants, where she discovered there is an “outpatient deficit” with few options for affordable outpatient care.
When Dykeman left BJC a few years ago, she took a job at a retail clinic as a nurse practitioner and decided to open her own clinic at Rosewood Chiropractic. As an Alton native, she has loved treating community members and helping to mitigate the “dreadful” lack of outpatient resources.
Looking ahead, she hopes to offer vaccines for kids on Medicaid and other services that will decrease the community’s ER visits and urgent care costs. Her goal is to provide affordable healthcare to community members who need it.
“I’m trying to help out the community,” she said. “I hope people feel like it’s helpful…It’ll cost less than urgent care and emergency care. If they can’t get into their primary care provider, they can come here.”
For more information about Airline Care Clinic, including to schedule an appointment, contact Dykeman at (618) 908-8602 or visit the official website at AirlineCareClinic.com.
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