More than 120,000 people in Fort Worth are stuck in a healthcare desert. That means it’s difficult for them to get basic services, like seeing a doctor.
A new facility is set to change that for the Las Vegas Trail Neighborhood.
When the executive principal of Western Hills Primary School, Andrea Johnson first arrived, she says she quickly noticed the lack of access to medical care. For example, she said, a common cold often becomes a bigger sickness.
"If they had a primary care physician, they would be able to see the doctor and remedy that. But a lot of our kids, because they could not access healthcare without going so far, it became things that it didn’t have to be," Johnson said.
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The school sits in the Las Vegas Trial neighborhood, which is considered a healthcare desert-- lacking access to basic services or doctors.
"In 2021 alone, Las Vegas Trail—this area-- generated over 4,000 visits to Cook Children's emergency department and urgent care centers that were considered primary care, not emergencies," said Michael Crain, the Fort Worth city council member who represents the area.
Being a healthcare desert also impacts preventative care.
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“There were about 192 students who have needed to be excluded from school because they didn’t have shots," Johnson said.
She said community partners came together to help bring a mobile clinic to the school at the beginning of the year.
"But having care right in the community, we wouldn’t have had to do that," she said.
Paige Charbonnet, executive director of Las Vegas Trail Rise, has been helping the community fill in those gaps.
"We’ve provided mobile units and immunization clinics… health screenings, cancer screenings," she said. “It’s about an hour and a half bus ride to JPS, so imagine doing that feeling crummy, or taking a kiddo.”
Charbonnet attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Las Vegas Trail Neighborhood Health Center on Tuesday-- one she helped advocate for, calling it "life-changing."
The multi-million-dollar, 40,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in 2025 at the corner of Calmont Avenue and Cherry Lane.
"Literally a groundbreaking collaboration that will forever change the trajectory of the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood," Crain said at the event.
He noted it was the first of its kind public-private partnership, the 3.7-acre lot donated by a family.
Cook Children and JPS leaders say it will be a comprehensive center providing not just healthcare, but mental health services, social services, a food pantry, a nutritionist, and on-site job training for healthcare industry jobs.
Fort Worth police will also have a storefront in the building, "to help strengthen relations" between officers and neighbors, according to the informational brochure.
The new facility will also provide pediatric and adult medical care, important for Johnson, who's seen how a lack of access for parents can have a ripple effect on her students.
Johnson recalled a "heart-jerking" experience with one parent's struggle with mental illness.
“Because they were battling with mental health, then the children were also battling with medical issues, and it was because the parent said they couldn’t get to Cook’s," said Johnson, who thanked community leaders for making this a reality.
