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Harris County Hospital District discusses level of care
  
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By ROYCELYN BASTIAN
As Kirk Wilkinson walked his dog down Westheimer Road last year, the last thing he expected was to be hit by a car.
“The paramedics found my body 60 feet from where I had been hit. I was taken to Ben Taub Hospital and spent 14 days in the intensive care unit,” Wilkinson said. “Even though for a while it was touch-and-go, I received the best care at Ben Taub and I want to say thank you.”
The Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Humble Intercontinental shared his story with other members and a representative from the Harris County Hospital District, who was the guest speaker, during a Rotary luncheon Nov. 19.
Although Wilkinson and other patients receive the immediate care they need by being brought to the emergency room, there are many patients with non-life threatening medical needs who bog down the county’s system, which primarily serves the uninsured or the underinsured in Harris County.
“With so many residents without health care or enough health care, they come into our emergency rooms with primary (non-life threatening) medical conditions that can be seen by a doctor,” said Carolyn Oddo, HCHD’s vice president of patient and public affairs. “We are trying to educate people who have a primary medical condition to access the appropriate level of health care.”
To offer the care patients need, the hospital district has 12 community health centers including the nation’s first free-standing HIV/AIDS treatment center, eight school-based clinics, 13 homeless shelter clinics, a dental center, and an immunization and medical outreach program with five mobile health units. The district has plans to build and open two more community health clinics in 2009.
One of the district’s community health centers is the E. A. "Squatty" Lyons Health Center in Humble. With a recent expansion and renovation to the clinic, it can now service an additional 16,000 patients a year.
“The old 4,000-square-foot building is now a 15,000-square-foot facility that has better resources and services to serve the community,” Oddo said.
The center also provides a variety of nutrition, health education, psychiatry, counseling and pharmacy services primarily to residents living in the Humble area.
In addition to the community health clinics, the district has three hospitals in its system.
Ben Taub, which opened in 1963, is the only level one trauma center in the HCHD. With 598 beds, it is the busiest emergency center and houses the only psychiatric emergency center in Houston.
“With the number of residents in Harris County, we really need at least four or five level one trauma hospitals,” Oddo said.
Lyndon B. Johnson, opened in 1989, has 328 beds and is a level three trauma center. It is a regional center for neonatal intensive care.
The district’s third hospital, Quentin Mease Community Hospital, has 49 beds and is a geriatric skilled nursing unit and an accredited inpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation unit.
“We have a comprehensive health care system that has provided care to the community for more than 40 years,” Oddo said.
The Harris County Hospital District was created in 1965 by a voter referendum. Approximately 60 percent of its operating budget comes from patient funding and subsidies from the federal government. The other 40 percent of the budget comes from property taxes.
“The paramedics found my body 60 feet from where I had been hit. I was taken to Ben Taub Hospital and spent 14 days in the intensive care unit,” Wilkinson said. “Even though for a while it was touch-and-go, I received the best care at Ben Taub and I want to say thank you.”
The Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Humble Intercontinental shared his story with other members and a representative from the Harris County Hospital District, who was the guest speaker, during a Rotary luncheon Nov. 19.
Although Wilkinson and other patients receive the immediate care they need by being brought to the emergency room, there are many patients with non-life threatening medical needs who bog down the county’s system, which primarily serves the uninsured or the underinsured in Harris County.
“With so many residents without health care or enough health care, they come into our emergency rooms with primary (non-life threatening) medical conditions that can be seen by a doctor,” said Carolyn Oddo, HCHD’s vice president of patient and public affairs. “We are trying to educate people who have a primary medical condition to access the appropriate level of health care.”
To offer the care patients need, the hospital district has 12 community health centers including the nation’s first free-standing HIV/AIDS treatment center, eight school-based clinics, 13 homeless shelter clinics, a dental center, and an immunization and medical outreach program with five mobile health units. The district has plans to build and open two more community health clinics in 2009.
One of the district’s community health centers is the E. A. "Squatty" Lyons Health Center in Humble. With a recent expansion and renovation to the clinic, it can now service an additional 16,000 patients a year.
“The old 4,000-square-foot building is now a 15,000-square-foot facility that has better resources and services to serve the community,” Oddo said.
The center also provides a variety of nutrition, health education, psychiatry, counseling and pharmacy services primarily to residents living in the Humble area.
In addition to the community health clinics, the district has three hospitals in its system.
Ben Taub, which opened in 1963, is the only level one trauma center in the HCHD. With 598 beds, it is the busiest emergency center and houses the only psychiatric emergency center in Houston.
“With the number of residents in Harris County, we really need at least four or five level one trauma hospitals,” Oddo said.
Lyndon B. Johnson, opened in 1989, has 328 beds and is a level three trauma center. It is a regional center for neonatal intensive care.
The district’s third hospital, Quentin Mease Community Hospital, has 49 beds and is a geriatric skilled nursing unit and an accredited inpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation unit.
“We have a comprehensive health care system that has provided care to the community for more than 40 years,” Oddo said.
The Harris County Hospital District was created in 1965 by a voter referendum. Approximately 60 percent of its operating budget comes from patient funding and subsidies from the federal government. The other 40 percent of the budget comes from property taxes.
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