Denton County, Texas, Explores Creation of Indigent Care Network
The Denton County, Texas-based Healthy Communities Coalition is advocating the creation of a network of clinics, physicians, pharmacies, hospitals and laboratory technicians as a way to provide medical care to the county's 22,000 uninsured residents, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Because inadequate funding forced Denton's publicly-funded hospital to close 15 years ago, the county's indigent have had to "rely on a makeshift network" of health providers to receive care. According to coalition members, the new network would create a "structured system" that would allow the cost and workload to be distributed among a larger group of physicians, the Star-Telegram reports. The network also would give patients a greater opportunity to receive care from a physician with whom they are familiar. In addition, creating a formal system would increase patients' chance to receive treatment before their illnesses significantly progress and would give providers "at least some chance" of receiving payment, officials said. The network, which has been in development for two years, is "still in its infancy" and will need approximately $250,000 to $500,000 to launch a "coherent" program, but the coalition has not yet been able to secure grant funding, according to Sandy Thurman, executive director of PediPlace, a pediatric clinic in the county that provides care for many of the county's uninsured children. Although the coalition is considering establishing a network of clinics throughout the county, costs make that option unlikely and financial concerns also have hampered efforts to establish a partnership with adjacent counties' public hospitals (Mitchell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3/16).
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.