Conroe - Montgomery Edition - June 2022

CONTINUED FROM 1 Accessing Medical care

A lag in providers

According to 2020 data, the number of health care and social service facilities per 10,000 residents in the Montgomery and Willis areas trail countywide and state gures.

Although emergency care options are common in Conroe, access to those options in Willis and Montgomery are either concentrated into certain areas or are harder to nd in general.

Number of health care and social service facilities per 10,000 residents

77356 77316 77318

17.76

11.28

77356

WILLIS

Montgomery County

24.9

MONTGOMERY

11 10

Texas

25.5

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

77318

4 7

77303

and social assistance institutions has grown by 34.78% and 16.28%, respec- tively, from 2015-20, while in Willis ZIP code 77318 it declined by 7.14%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Community Business Patterns data- set. The population of those three ZIP codes grew by 10.03%, 44.95%, and 31.58%, respectively, over the same time, according to the American Com- munity Survey 5-year estimates. Meanwhile, development contin- ues, with residential developments underway along major roadways including I-45 and FM 1486. Despite recent and expected growth in the regions, the areas do not have large- scale hospitals, with Montgomery and Willis residents driving to HCA Con- roe and hospitals in The Woodlands for hospital-level care. Community Business Pattern data found that in 2020, approximately two-thirds of the 94 health care and social assistance businesses operat- ing in Montgomery and Willis had less than 10 employees. In an email to Community Impact Newspaper , Robert Sapina, HCA Houston’s chief operating ocer, conrmed HCA is planning to open a surgical center in Willis, although he

could not provide an opening date. He said HCA serves the area through CareNow urgent care facilities in Con- roe, Montgomery and Magnolia. “We are actively evaluating several sites of care to address the acute, pri- mary and outpatient diagnostic needs of these rapidly growing communi- ties, which have been long served by our hospital and medical sta,” Sapina said. “We recognize the need for services in some of these outlying areas and will continue to evaluate opportunities.” Lone Star Family Health Center ocials said the federally qualied health center is meeting some of the health care needs of north Montgom- ery County. With oces in Conroe and Willis, Lone Star targets popula- tions without health insurance. Lone Star CEO Karen Harwell said the center has continued lling a need even as the county’s north- ern area grows. Harwell said there is still a “huge access issue,” especially for specialist care, when it comes to low-income populations. “Even as larger developments are happening, I thought our population would be pushed out,” Harwell said. “But we’ve seen there’s still so much

105

CONROE

77301

77316

77304

77301 1 TCBHC Psychiatric Emergency Treatment Center 2 CareNow Urgent Care 77304 3 Emergency Room at HCA Houston Conroe 4 Emergency Room at St. Luke’s Health 5 Conroe Emergency Center

6 Total Point Emergency Center 7 Next Level Urgent Care 8 Lone Star Family Health Center 77316 9 EMS Station 47 77318 10 Willis Urgent Care

11 Lone Star Family Health Center 77356 12 Emergency Room at St. Luke’s Health- Montgomery 13 NextCare Urgent Care 14 Conroe Emergency Center

SOURCES: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, LONE STAR FAMILY HEALTH CENTERCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

Montgomery Area Chamber of Com- merce, said increases in travel time spurred the chamber to assemble an economic development team to “recruit adequate health care oppor- tunities” for the city. “With the increase in travel time to I-45 from Montgomery due to slower speed limits and added trac, it will

be imperative to consider long-range goals to ensure Montgomery residents continue to receive prompt and eec- tive care,” Reid said. Census data shows health care employers have not grown at the same pace as the population in the region. In Montgomery ZIP codes 77316 and 77356, the number of health care

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