A Clinic Is Coming To A Health Care Desert In This Fort Worth Neighborhood

On Tuesday, leaders announced a health clinic in Fort Worth's Las Vegas Trail neighborhood.

The area near Interstate 30 west of Fort Worth has lost many essential health services over the years, leaving residents with few options for preventive screening or routine care for chronic diseases. According to the district's transformation plan, there is no general practitioner, pediatrician or polyclinic in the area.

A community clinic will open at the site, jointly operated by Tarrant County's two largest health care providers, JPS Health Network and Cook Children's Medical Center. JPS Chief Executive Officer and President Dr. Karen Duncan announced the news of the clinic at the meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

The clinic will be built on 3.7 acres at the intersection of Calmont Avenue and Cherry Lane, Duncan said. According to him, the land was donated to Chef Children.

A 2017 Star-Telegram article highlighted the region's most pressing problems, including high levels of poverty and crime, and limited access to fresh food, public transportation, quality housing, and healthcare. Since 2017, leaders have focused specifically on a portion of the neighborhood bounded by Interstate 30 to the north and south and Camp Bowie Parkway to the west, and Cherry Lane and Loop 820 to the east and west. The nonprofit LVT Rise is opening a community center and spearheading plans for the neighborhood's future, along with leaders like Councilman Michael Crane, who represents the neighborhood on city council. This area is also known as Western Hills or Western Hills North.

Currently, the closest health care provider is North Texas Community Medical Center, a federally funded outpatient clinic that treats many patients with and without public health insurance. For Las Vegas Trail residents without a car, it can take over an hour to get to the medical center: 20-minute walk to the bus stop, 32-minute bus ride, and finally another 20-minute walk to the clinic.

In the Neighborhood Transformation Plan announced last year, the provision of health services in neighborhood centers was identified as a top priority. The plan includes major investments in public health, including the need for more parks and open spaces, public health improvements, including roads and sidewalks, increased access to fresh food, and better public transportation. .

Details on when work will start, when the clinic will open and which organization will run it have not yet been released.

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