Health centers awarded $19M in grants

TYLER – The Texas Department of State Health Services has announced that they’ve awarded $19.3 million in grants to Federally Qualified Health Centers and similar organizations, including five in East Texas according to our news partners at KETK. This initial round of funding is a part of $40 million from the Texas general revenue fund to help expand Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), FQHC look-alikes and eligible nonprofit health centers.

“The FQHC Incubator funding has had a major impact on our health center by allowing us to open an entity-owned pharmacy. Having a pharmacy on site was a dream of our health center for many years,” said Kristi Barger, pharmacy manager for Matagorda Episcopal Health Outreach Program. “The pharmacy and its services affect the entire clinic system and provides a collaborative relationship between our providers and pharmacists. This new relationship benefits our patient population by improving medication compliance, wait times, affordability, and overall quality of care.”

When a health center is a Federally Qualified Health Center that means that the center gets reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, funding under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, serves an underserved community and provides comprehensive services, according to FQHC Associates.

The grants ranged from $500,000 to $1 million and will help 35 centers across Texas build new clinics, renovate existing facilities, purchase equipment and hire additional staff.
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“Having previously participated in the FQHC Incubator Program, support from DSHS has been vital to improving Lone Star Circle of Care’s capacity to provide comprehensive healthcare throughout Central Texas. With the FY2023 award, LSCC transitioned from our former Big Pink Bus mobile mammography unit to a new, more dependable vehicle,” said Lone Star Circle of Care Vice President for Advancement Kim Roberts. “This upgrade promises to enhance access to timely and affordable breast cancer screening for underserved women in our region.”

The following entities from across Texas received the grants:

Brazos Valley Community Action Agency, Inc. – College Station
Lone Star Family Health Center – Conroe
Navarro County Ambulatory Care Association – Corsicana
Health Services of North Texas, Inc. – Denton
United Medical Centers – Eagle Pass
Centro San Vicente – El Paso
Project Vida Health Center – El Paso
Cactus Health Services, Inc. – Fort Stockton
Lone Star Circle of Care – Georgetown
Carevide/Community Health Service Agency, Inc. of Hunt County – Greenville
East Texas Community Clinic, Inc. – Gun Barrel City
Bee Busy Wellness Center – Houston
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD – Houston
Legacy Community Health Services – Houston
Spring Branch Community Health Center – Houston
Stephen F. Austin Community Health Center, Inc. – Houston
Vecino/Houston Community Health Centers – Houston
Gateway Community Health Center – Laredo
South Plains Rural Health Services – Levelland
Health Center of Southeast Texas – Liberty
Community Healthcore/Sabine Valley Regional MHMR Center – Longview
Wellness Pointe/Longview Wellness Center, Inc. – Longview
Genesis PrimeCare/East Texas Border Health Clinic – Marshall
Midland Community Healthcare Services – Midland
Matagorda Episcopal Health Outreach Program (MEHOP)/Vibrance Health – North Bay City
Atascosa Health Center, Inc. – Pleasanton
AccessHealth/Fort Bend Family Health Center – Richmond
La Esperanza Clinic, Inc. – San Angelo
CentroMed/El Centro del Barrio – San Antonio
TOMAGWA HealthCare Ministries – Tomball
Tyler Family Circle of Care – Tyler
Community Health Development, Inc. – Uvalde
Waco Family Medicine/Heart of Texas Community Health Center, Inc. – Waco
Ellis County Coalition for Health Options – Waxahachie
North Central Texas Community Health Care Center, Inc. – Wichita Falls

To learn more about Texas’s grants for FQHCs or to apply visit the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Incubator Program online.