Two-minute impact
At an Aug. 1 meeting, Fort Bend County Commissioners Court heard a proposal from the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services department to add a hospital district to address health care gaps and mental health issues.
The item, which would add a new taxing entity to the county, must be placed on ballots by commissioners before residents can vote on the district’s creation.
“Many residents ... struggle to find access to medical care. Some current funding mechanisms are inadequate to meet the demands of our rapidly growing population,” said Dr. Letosha Gale-Lowe, FBCHHS director and local health authority. “We must act now to ensure residents have access to quality health care regardless of their financial situation.”
The cost
If approved by voters, the hospital district will have a tax rate of $0.0106 per $100 valuation, which would be $32 per year or $2.67 per month for a resident with a $300,000 home value, County Auditor Robert Sturdivant said.
By taxpayers providing the $12.5 million annual cost, the district is expected to provide an annual benefit of $101.5 million due to the county spending less money on emergency rooms, housing individuals having mental health crises in jails and other benefits, Gale-Lowe and Sturdivant said.
Breaking it down
Gale-Lowe said the hospital district would focus on providing primary care for the uninsured to reduce hospital visits and other county costs by:
- Expanding eligibility requirements of the existing County Indigent Health Care program ($6.8 million) from serving 21% of residents living at the poverty level to 100%, allowing more residents to seek care
- Creating a county health care access card program ($1 million) and funding additional staff to expand preventive and specialty care referrals for qualified patients to existing free or low-cost clinics
- Developing the Family Medicine Residency Program ($2 million), which would likely be launched in July 2025, to host 12 residents annually in partnership with the Ibn Sina Clinical Training Region at OakBend Medical Center program
- Creating a mental health drop-off center ($2.9 million) in partnership with Texana, the county’s local health authority, for law enforcement to bring residents who are experiencing mental health crises
- Developing mental health partnership outreach services ($710,000) with community organizations, faith-based groups, schools and behavioral health providers that can provide referral services
If the health assistance district is approved by voters, Fort Bend County would have the lowest taxpayer impact in the state compared to other hospital districts, Sturdivant said.
Why it matters
There is a health care accessibility gap with nearly 100,000, or 11%, of Fort Bend County residents being uninsured, according to study results from Working Partner, a strategy and evaluation firm, and Tripp Umbach, a strategic community consultant who partnered with the county.
However, more than 70% of these individuals have worked full- or part-time in the last year and were unable to secure insurance from their employers.
Additionally, the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Crisis Intervention Team received 1,800 calls to respond to community members in crises in 2023, with depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety as the top three mental health issues. Of these calls, 34% of individuals were uninsured, results showed.
What they’re saying
Looking long-term, Fort Bend County Judge KP George said creating the hospital district is vital to not only individual health outcomes but to the county’s resilience by ensuring every resident can access health care without undue hardship or delay.
“We stand at a pivotal moment in Fort Bend County’s history ... where the health and well-being of every resident must be the foremost priority,” he said at the meeting. “Health care is not just a privilege but a fundamental right that should be accessible to all, irrespective of their background, income, color, creed or any ZIP codes.”
However, commissioners Vincent Morales and Andy Meyers said the item feels rushed and may not be approved by voters.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to look at all aspects that the taxpayers really, truly feel that they’re going to get a value out of this,” said Morales, who serves Precinct 1. “I don’t see you being able to market this properly ... between now and a November election.”
What’s next
Fort Bend County commissioners are set to consider a resolution to add the proposed hospital district to the Nov. 5 election at an Aug. 13 meeting. To be placed on November ballots, commissioners must call an election by Aug. 19, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website.
Other timeline items during September and November include:
- Outreach and updates to Commissioners Court
- Public comment period
- Communication plan roll-out
