Katy Clinic Expansion
Katy Clinic Expands with the Help of Texas Department of State Health Services Grant
In order to address the poor state of maternal health in West Houston and the area surrounding its health center, SBCHC sought and received a grant award from the State of Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) FQHC Incubator Program to expand its Katy Clinic space and to add healthcare services there, as well. Located in historic old Katy, the previously 3,400 square foot facility offers family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, general labs, and vaccines, along with in-house Eligibility Coordinators and Patient Care Managers and professional support staff.
The grant award from DSHS funded the demolition and conversion of an adjacent 1,950 sq. ft. commercial area into a clinical space primarily offering OB/GYN services. It also added to the clinic eight new exam rooms, a nurses/triage station, lab, and administrative offices, along with the necessary medical supplies and IT/office equipment to provide clinical services. The grant award funded the addition of an obstetric (OB) and gynecological (GYN) Provider, as well, to reduce provider shortages and increase access to critically important healthcare services for approximately to 1,100 additional patients across 3,400 visits annually. The award likewise funded three Medical Assistants and an additional Front Desk Receptionist as well, to perform routine clinical and administrative duties, thereby freeing providers to maximize their interactions with patients.
As the primary FQHC in the Katy and West Houston areas, the expanded Katy CHC adds more women’s healthcare providers in an enlarged clinical space, and so increases access to much-needed OB and GYN health services for an ever-increasing population, which includes a significant number of low-income and uninsured women.
The Katy area is rapidly growing, and SBCHC recognizes the need for high quality, comprehensive care in an area that has a growth rate of 9.17% annually, and where the population increased by 105.05% between the 2010 and 2020 census. Almost one quarter of the area’s residents are living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, and 30% are uninsured or have Medicaid coverage.
While SBCHC’s Katy Clinic is close to the town’s governing leadership and emergency services, and partnerships with Christ Clinic, Katy Christian Ministries, and Katy Independent School District help to promote the clinics services in the city and beyond, it is the most rural location in SBCHC’s health center network. As a result, it frequently serves residents from beyond the city limits who face a disproportionate risk of exposure to unhealthy community conditions, including hazardous environmental surroundings, poorly built neighborhoods, and adverse social surroundings.
By using this grant award to expand the clinic space and to add an OB/GYN provider and support staff, SBCHC helps address the need for these health services among low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable minority populations within the Katy CHC community. According to the Texas Tribune, “More than a quarter of women of childbearing age are uninsured in Texas, the highest rate in the nation.” Unfortunately, Texas and Harris County are falling short in providing access to this needed care, especially among vulnerable populations such as those the Katy CHC serves.
In 2021, the March of Dimes Report Card gave Harris County a grade of “F” for the extremely poor overall health of its moms and babies. The county has a high and worsening preterm birth rate, with 1 in 9 babies (11.6% of live births) being born preterm in the county in 2020 and a significant lack of prenatal care for pregnant women in Harris County with 20.4% entering prenatal care late in their pregnancies or having less than half of their recommended prenatal visits, compared with the US rate of 14.9%. These shortcomings in prenatal care manifest in the prevalence of poor health among new mothers in the Katy community in particular, which had an elevated rate of maternal morbidity of 21 cases per 1000 live births, compared to neighboring zip codes, which ranged from 8 to 14.
By means of this generous award from the State of Texas DSHS, SBCHC is addressing these problems, and improving the health and wellness of area women, mothers, babies and the community as a whole.
