The GRACE Outreach to Health Community Clinic was selected as one of the first recipients of the Texas Health Resources Clinic Connect program. The program was established last July as a way for Texas Health Resources to support community health clinics that serve vulnerable populations.
The GRACE Community Clinic has a strong partner in Texas Health Resources.
“Our goal is to create a collaborative relationship with local non-profit community-based clinics,” said Jamie Judd, program director, Community Health Improvement, Texas Health Resources. “Our mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve.”
Clinic Connect is designed to provide financial support, educational opportunities, information sharing, and expanded services to improve the quality and healthcare access for underserved, at-risk populations in the community. The GRACE Community Clinic will receive information in mid-January fully outlining the partnership along with the reporting metrics and outcome expectations.
The GRACE Community Clinic serves patients at low or no cost to them, emphasizes preventative care, and reduces the need for ER visits for uninsured or underinsured individuals. More than 1,000 individuals call the Community Clinic their medical home, and the facility averages nearly 3,000 clinic visits per year.
The Community Clinic budget has averaged nearly $250,000 in direct costs annually over the last three years. Last year, medical professionals—physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals—served more than 3,500 volunteer hours at the Community Clinic. The value of their time, plus the use of donated medical equipment, medications and other supplies, adds another $325,000 to the budget.
The Texas Health Resources Clinic Connect program will help offset up to $50,000 of the Community Clinic’s budget for the 2017 calendar year.
Texas Health Resources has been a strong and long-time supporter of GRACE. Since 2008, Texas Health has donated nearly $180,000 to GRACE. Texas Health Resources was one of the original four hospital members of the Tarrant County Indigent Care Planning Committee that, along with Baylor, HCA and Methodist, provided significant funding to the GRACE Community Clinic in 2010.
For more information about the GRACE Outreach to Health Community Clinic, contact Shirley Roberts, RN, BAS, CCM at 817-305-7681, or email sroberts@gracegrapevine.org.
