Harris Health is the public health care system providing primary care, specialty care and acute care to all residents of Harris County. The organization serves county residents, regardless of insurance status.
Amanda Callaway, associate administrator for mission advancement, Harris Health, said passing the bond was critical to the continuation of Harris Health’s mission.
“We knew that if this bond didn't pass, it would negatively impact Harris Health meeting the needs of the community,” Callaway said. “This doesn't just address the here and now. This really sets us up to be able to care for the community for 40 to 50 years down the road. It's a complete game changer.”
President and CEO, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, expressed gratitude for voter support of the bond.
“It's really quite humbling,” Porsa said. “I see this overwhelming vote of approval as an affirmation of the critical role that Harris Health plays in the community.”
Harris Health currently includes:
- 16 primary care locations
- Four same-day clinics
- Six specialty care centers
- Two hospitals, with a total of 617 beds
- Eight homeless clinics
- Mobile medical, dental and mammography services
Porsa said people in Harris County deserve quality health care, regardless of their economic or insurance status.
“Just because our patients are uninsured, it doesn't mean that they deserve less,” Porsa said. “They certainly don't reserve less in terms of the quality of the care that they receive or the facilities where they received that care.”
Part of the bond will fund the construction of a new level one trauma hospital on the existing LBJ Hospital campus at 5656 Kelley St., Houston. This new facility will offer comprehensive trauma care, covering all aspects of injuries, from prevention to rehabilitation.
“The county is woefully underserved as far as level one trauma care,” said John Martinez, senior public and media relations specialist, Harris Health. “There are only two adult level one trauma care facilities in Houston, and they're both in the medical center. This will be the first one outside the medical center, more so on the north side of the county.”
The additional trauma hospital will reduce response times for patients requiring life-saving care.
The expansion will also increase capacity and allow the hospital to offer more services, such as inpatient mental health care.
Outpatient facilities are also a major focus, with approximately $500 million dedicated to building three new health centers in areas of high demand and enhance existing health centers across the county.
“The growth of the county is something that our system hasn't been able to keep up with,” Martinez said. The improvements that we make to our system are going to keep up with the projected population growth.”
Porsa said Harris County residents can expect Harris Health to do what they promised to do during the bond proposal phase.
“I want to take this opportunity to double down on our promise that we're going to account for every dollar and we're going to honor the community’s vote of confidence in delivering something that they're going to be proud of and that will have a lasting impact on the health of this community for generations to come,” Porsa said.
Harris County voters can expect to see a groundbreaking for the new hospital on the LBJ campus in about six months.
Visit Harris Health’s website to learn more.
The above story was produced by Multi-Platform Journalist Mary Katherine Shapiro with Community Impact's Storytelling team with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.
