Lone Star Family Health Breaks Ground on New Clinic in Grangerland

CONROE, TX – Officials with Lone Star Family Health Center (LSFHC) broke ground on a clinic on Monday that will be located on the campus of Conroe Independent School District’s (CISD) Ben Milam Elementary.

The new clinic, which will open in September, will to serve the community of Grangerland. (Want to get daily updates about traffic news and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

“Our new Grangerland clinic will fill a large need for primary healthcare services in this part of our county,” said LSFHC CEO Karen Harwell.

Grangerland is situated within a federally designated Medically Underserved Area, meaning there is no access to primary medical care (a doctor’s office or clinic) within a 10-mile radius.

In addition to scarce healthcare resources, the nearest grocery store or fresh food market requires travel to Conroe, New Caney or beyond.

More than two-thirds of area residents live below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line and have a median income lower than the average in Montgomery County.

This means that families of four live on $55,900.00 annually.

When considering locations for a clinic in Grangerland, LSFHC recognized that placing the facility between four existing CISD school campuses would offer the greatest access to services for the community.

CISD enthusiastically supported the idea of bringing healthcare to the area and agreed to lease property on the campus of Ben Milam Elementary for this purpose.

The LSFHC clinic will operate within 1 mile of Grangerland Intermediate, Moorhead Junior High and Caney Creek High Schools, all campuses that exceed the state average for free and reduced lunch program enrollment, with Ben Milam student enrollment reaching nearly 80 percent.

“Unlike our three other clinics in Conroe, Spring and Willis, Grangerland will not receive any federal funding to support operations,” says Harwell, “but as a Community Health Center, we believe it is our responsibility to provide high quality, low-cost healthcare to everyone.”

LSFHC’s own cash reserves, along with support from the Simmons Foundation and Montgomery County Community Development, will open and operate this clinic.
The clinic will be open to all community members, not only CISD students, and is expected to serve 480 patients through 1,200 visits in its first year.

Clinic doors are expected to open in September of 2017 and will be staffed by Board Certified Family Medicine Physicians.

Image: Shutterstock

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