Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/646815
t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 6 35 outpatient clinics—we have X-rays, physical therapy, dental services, behavioral therapy and a pharmacy all in one place to make it more accessible for our patients." The group has also expanded to three hospitals throughout the county: Ben Taub, one of only two Level 1 trauma centers in the city; Lyndon B. Johnson, the busiest Level 3 trauma center in the state of Texas; and Quentin Mease, a geriatric and reha- bilitation facility. They also have five school-based clinics, 10 homeless shel- ter clinics, a free-standing dental center and a dedicated HIV/AIDS clinic, the first such free-standing facility in the nation. Without the Harris Health System, one third of Harris County's population would not receive affordable top-notch health care. Because of this, it serves as a safety-net provider in Harris County. The vision of the Harris Health founders 50 years ago made it the sys- tem it is today. Though many practices and technologies have changed, their core mission has remained the same: to improve our community's health by delivering high-quality health care to Harris County residents and training the next generation of health professionals. "Our founders had a vision that the hospitals would be here for the under- served," said George V. Masi, president and CEO of Harris Health System. "As long as there are medically under- served people in our community, we will be there and continue to grow and continue to meet the needs of the community." Houston (UTHealth), Frank Webber, M.D., saw an opportunity for UTHealth students to gain public health expe- rience at the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. Their involvement with the Harris Health System also expanded to staffing some of the outpatient clinics in Harris County. "We serve a very important group of people out here who would otherwise have to drive miles and miles to get the care they need," said Carmel Dyer, M.D., chief of staff at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and professor and director of the division of geriatric and palliative medicine and associate dean of the Harris County Programs for UTHealth. "We serve everyone from the sur- rounding areas of Harris County and we serve a very important part of the community." Collaboration has been at the core of what makes the Harris Health System work as well as it does. All 47 locations are staffed by faculty physicians and residents from the two medical schools in the Texas Medical Center. "The local model that we have developed here in partnership with the academic community and the man- agement of Harris Health is a balance which makes Harris Health one of the best examples of public health care delivery that exists in the world," Mattox said. Today, Harris Health serves a total of 325,000 individuals through nearly 2 million patient visits annually through its multiple locations, includ- ing its community health centers across the county. In fact, the commu- nity health centers have become the focal sites for Harris Health System's ability to reach the largest number of patients. "We have worked hard to establish a medical home for our patients in the clinics," Reed said. "We are able to function as a one-stop shop at our In the early days of Jefferson Davis, predating Harris Health System, there was no budget for public health care. If a patient needed a heart valve or a hip prosthesis, Dr. DeBakey would call Mr. Taub and between the two of them, they would pay for it. — KENNETH MATTOX, M.D. Chief of Staff and Surgeon in Chief at Ben Taub Hospital (Credit: Harris Health System)