CYF-03-20-final (TEST)

Public health ocials release 10-year plan

H E A LT H C A R E

C Y FA I R ME T R I C S The percentage of people who are uninsured in Cy-Fair area ranged from 11%-19% in 2017.

Although the percentage of peo- ple who are uninsured is lower in Cy-Fair than in some other parts of Harris County, researchers said the overall uninsured rate in Har- ris County is still cause for concern. The Addicks/Bear Creek area had an uninsured rate of 19% in 2017, among the highest rates in the northwest area. Across the U.S., roughly 8.5% of citizens are uninsured. Although the Cypress-Katy area is also among the parts of the county with the lowest uninsured rates, the number of adults who reported hav- ing delayed seeing a doctor for a med- ical concern was among the highest. Researchers said the underinsured rate—people with insurance who have trouble paying deductibles or copays— could be higher in that area. Public health clinics can be found on Jones Road and Hwy. 6 in Cy-Fair. Part of the plan calls for investing in health care upstream in local commu- nities to try to prevent people from getting sick or injured before they end up in the emergency room, Shah said. Les Caves—executive director of Northwest Assistance Ministries, which provides assistance to low-in- come individuals, including pediatric health care services—said the non- prot has seen health care needs grow among the people coming to them. “What you see too often is that people will let their illnesses go, hop- ing they’ll get better,” Caves said. “There’s not a lot of options for peo- ple who don’t make much money to acquire health insurance or receive health care. Until we have a plan for those families, the numbers will be with us.”

BY SHAWN ARRAJJ

Just as the Harris County Sheri’s Oce did, the Harris County Pub- lic Health Department also came to commissioners with a list of budget requests, with the understanding that many of them would not be funded. Of the $26million in new requests, the nal public health budget ultimately included about $9.2 million in addi- tional funding. That funding will be used in part in 2020 to bolster programs related to chronic disease prevention and infec- tious disease response, said Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health. However, the public health depart- ment has longer-term goals that in part involve preparing for contin- ued growth in unincorporated areas, Shah said. The department released a 10-year vision plan called Harris Cares last fall that Shah said serves as a roadmap for the future. Top rec- ommendations include nding ways to improve access to health care in underserved areas where growth is creating greater needs. Shah said methods could include a mix of brick-and-mortar infra- structure as well as new innovative solutions, such as mobile health, tele- health and smaller health care hubs. “Brick-and-mortar infrastructure can be harder to adapt as demo- graphics change,” Shah said. “Mobile infrastructure allows for a lot more exibility of care and of service delivery.” Troubling data In addition to making recommen- dations for how to improve health care in Harris County, the Harris Cares plan also examined a variety of data points across the county.

Uninsured in 2017

12% 11% 14% 19% 16%

249

Cypress/Katy

North Cypress/ Fairbanks

290

Jersey Village/ Willowbrook

Adults who delayed seeing a doctor in 2018

South Cypress/Fairbanks

27% 19% 12% 18% 19%

99 TOLL

Addicks/Bear Creek

Public health locations

1 Cypress Health Center 12340 Jones Road, Ste. 100, Houston www.harrishealth.org 713-873-5240 2 Harris County Public Health Fallbrook Women, Infants and Children Center 14901 Hwy. 249, Ste. 107, Houston http://publichealth.harriscountytx.gov 713-407-5800

3 Bear Creek Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic 5870 Hwy 6 N., Houston www.harrishealth.org 713-873-6860 4 Danny Jackson Community Health Center

5503 N. Fry Road , Katy www.harrishealth.org 713-982-7071

SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

FUND I NG PUB L I C HE A LTH After several years of annual budget

$40M

increases of between $1 million-$2 million, Harris County has boosted funding more substantially for the public health department in each of the past two years. SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF BUDGET MANAGEMENTCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

$30M

$20M

$10M

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

2016-17 2014-15 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21

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CYFAIR EDITION • MARCH 2020