Free healthcare? This will get you pretty close.
You probably never hear this, but if you don’t have health insurance, you’re in luck.
Next week, the Will Rogers Memorial Center will house a free, three-day clinic to provide healthcare services to anyone who is uninsured or under-insured.
Your Best Pathway to Health, which is bringing the clinic to Fort Worth, is a nonprofit organization from the Seventh-day Adventist Church that specifically tackles obstacles in accessing healthcare.
The clinic is expected to provide around $25 million in free services, according to a release from the City of Fort Worth.
The on-site services include:
- Primary care visits
Minor surgical procedures: Small hernia repair, small mass excisions, cystoscopy, hysteroscopy
Women’s health services: Pap smears and mammography
- Consultations by medical specialists: Heart evaluation, gastroenterology, neurology, pulmonology, rheumatology, infectious disease, general and orthopedic surgery, and pediatrics
- Podiatry services
- Immunizations
- Dental care: root canals, crowns, fillings, extractions and dental cleaning
- Pharmacy
- Vision care: eyeglass fittings and examinations
- STD screenings
- Medical massage and physical therapy
- X-rays and laboratory services
- Medical-related services: Attorney services, financial counseling, chaplaincy services
Who does a free clinic help?
This service is crucial to many in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in 2017, Texas was the state with the highest percentage of people without health insurance at 17.3 percent.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]Nearly 336,000 people in Tarrant County are uninsured, according to data from the 2017 American Community Survey. The estimated rates are highest among people between ages 19 and 64 (79.3 percent), Hispanics (49.7 percent) and non-Hispanic Whites (26.2 percent). African Americans make up 17 percent of the uninsured population in the county.
In Fort Worth, the same dataset shows that more than 164,000 people don’t have health insurance, Hispanics (57 percent), non-Hispanic Whites (22 percent) and African Americans (15.2 percent).. It’s most common among people who are employed (63 percent).
No insurance, identification or appointments are required to receive services. At least 2,000 medical professionals and volunteers are expected to be on-site during the three-day clinic.
Your Best Pathway To Health Mobile Hospital
When: Wednesday, Sept. 19 - Thursday, Sept. 20 (7 a.m. - 4 p.m.), Friday, Sept. 21 (7 a.m. - 1 p.m.)
Where: Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 W Lancaster Ave.
More information: Call (682) 250-0058
Staff writer Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 13, 2018 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Free healthcare? This will get you pretty close.."