Local medical service providers are working to keep pace with increasing demand for additional, and highly specialized, health care services as the Montgomery County population continues to grow.

Since 2010 the county population has grown by more than 63,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Because of the diversity of the incoming population, health care providers said they not only have to care for additional patients but also provide highly specialized care and tend to patients who fall between health care coverage gaps.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, who serves as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Health Care within the Committee on Ways and Means, said local health care expansions are a key driver in the development of Montgomery County.

“We are seeing first-class health care providers expanding in Montgomery County,” Brady said. “Health care is a huge part of the local economy, along with energy and trade. It is really an exciting development for our area that will help our region continue to grow.”

Veterans affairs clinic expansion

The Conroe Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic is scheduled to relocate to a new facility at 690 S. Loop 336 W., Conroe, by the end of the year. The facility will provide some of the most specialized services found in VA clinic facilities throughout the county and surrounding area. Montgomery County veterans will then be able to acquire specialized care within the county, instead of traveling to the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston.

The new clinic will measure 32,000 square feet and provide services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, optometry and audiology. Shortly after opening the clinic plans to expand by another 5,000 square feet to accommodate sleep medicine and dental service programs, which are not offered at any other VA clinic in the area, said Dr. Annapurni Teague, associate chief of staff for community-based outpatient clinics.

The clinic will also offer enhanced on-site imaging services, such as radiology, CT scans, mammograms and on-site lab testing, Teague said. The enhanced services are significant because lab work will no longer be sent to Houston for testing.

“One of the things we are doing is trying to get care to the veterans as close to their homes as possible,” Teague said. “We can’t do surgeries in all of these clinics, but we are trying to get everything that is possible in the clinics.”

Teague said the facility expansion and relocation was necessary to serve the growing veteran population in the county. Even with the opening of the Tomball VA Outpatient Clinic in October 2013, Teague said the existing Conroe facility continues to see a growing amount of patients.

“The Conroe [clinic’s] growth has not slowed down as we expected with the Tomball clinic opening,” Teague said. “People who are moving to Houston are living in the suburbs, and if they live in the suburbs, they are going to one of the clinics.”

Conroe Regional Medical Center

Trauma services and women’s and children’s care facilities will be enhanced as a part of ongoing Conroe Regional Medical Center initiatives. The hospital is undergoing a four-phase renovation effort and is working to attain Level II trauma center designation.

While the hospital is already operating as a Level II trauma center, it currently holds a Level III designation. A Level II designation means the hospital provides 24-hour general surgeon availability as well as orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care surgery services.

The hospital expects a survey to be conducted by the American College of Surgeons within the first quarter of 2016 for the designation change. CEO Matt Davis said the Level II designation means severely ill or injured patients will no longer need to be transferred to the Texas Medical Center in Houston.

“We are able to take care of more acute patients, meaning sicker patients or those with bigger injuries,” Davis said. “Historically if a patient that presented here from a car wreck had a pelvis fracture or a multi-bone fracture, those patients would be transferred to the Texas Medical Center. We don’t transfer those patients anymore; those patients stay here for care.”

The hospital is also undergoing Phase 2 of a four-phase renovation effort. Davis said the renovations will help the hospital keep pace with the needs of the rapidly expanding Montgomery County population.

“We always face the challenge of keeping up with population growth and making sure we are staying in tune with what the community wants and needs,” Davis said. “We are in one of the fastest-growing communities in the state of Texas, so we need to meet the needs.”

Within the past 18 months, the hospital spent about $1.4 million renovating its Women & Children’s Center and will complete renovation of the labor and delivery department by late fall, Davis said.

Phase 3 of the effort entails patient room renovations while Phase 4 will look at physical expansion of facilities to add space to the hospital.

Lone Star Family Health Center

Unlike Harris County, Montgomery County does not offer a county hospital system to provide affordable care to uninsured patients.  The Lone Star Family Health Center in Conroe, a federally qualified health center, strives to fill the coverage gap through its programs for the uninsured and underserved.

As an federally qualified health center organization, the center receives federal funds and offers a sliding fee scale based on income. As a result the center provides comprehensive services, has an ongoing quality assurance program, and has a governing board of directors. According to Dr. Stephen McKernan, residency program director and CEO, nearly 20 percent of the Montgomery County population, or about 100,000 residents, do not have health care insurance. [polldaddy poll=8940154] 

The center offers a comprehensive array of services, such as prenatal care, geriatrics, counseling, dental and clinical pharmacy services, McKernan said. In March the center started hiring mental health program staff to offer those services at the facility.

“What we see is there are some mental health access points in the county already—mostly for more severe mental illness,” McKernan said. “What is left out a lot are children with attention deficit disorder and adults with depression, anxiety and less severe mental illness.”

In 2011, the center also started to offer dental health services, and today the department sees about 100 patients per month, McKernan said.

Overall McKernan said comprehensive services help residents improve their standing within the community.

“I think it is important to understand that there is hidden poverty in this county,” McKernan said. “Health care is important to people, and when you can’t get it—when you can’t maintain your physical health, your mental health, your dental health­­—it really keeps you in poverty.”