Vecino Health Centers

Enhance the health and overall well-being of individuals and families living in the North-East quadrant of Harris County who are mainly low-income individuals.

Currently, we have two major initiatives as part of our efforts to implement population health strategies; one is devoted to the health of women and girls, and the other concentrates on not only managing but preventing chronic conditions. We intend to achieve these goals through care coordination, furthering the integration of our services, and addressing the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) of our patients.

We provide integrated healthcare services to low-income families. We deliver these services through a community-based system that includes two clinics and six school-based sites.

We also instituted care coordination for our prenatal-postnatal continuum of care and for our chronic disease management services.

Our organizational capabilities are demonstrated by our ability to provide the following integrated care services:

*Medical -Adults
*Pediatrics
*Counseling
*Dental
*Prenatal Care
*Dysplasia Clinic
*Cardiology Clinic
*Pharmacy (Medication Management)
*Mammography (through a partnership with The Rose)
*Ultrasound
*Nutrition Classes (through a partnership with AgriLife Extension Services)
*Social Work Consultation/ Assistance with non-medical drivers of health (SDOH)

During the last few years, we have been averaging 3000 new patients. This is significant since it means that more low-income families in our service area are accessing integrated healthcare services in their own communities.

During the last three program years, Vecino also increased its infrastructure significantly. With this added organizational capacity we have been able to increase the number of medical and behavioral health providers available at our clinics to serve the community. Last year, we also launched the Healthy Women > Healthy Families Initiative to enhance services to women and girls ages 15 to 45 which includes enhanced well-women exams, health education programming, and the creation of a preconception > prenatal > postanal care continuum.

Our school-based behavioral health services have also grown significantly in the last few years. We are now partnering with five public schools and one charter school. Our partnership with public schools is part of our efforts to address the social determinants of health because our services are part of the Houston ISD Wraparound Department. This added layer of care coordination is increasing the ability in schools to address the needs of students in a more comprehensive manner.

Additionally, we hired a social worker to help us address the social determinants of health of our patients at our Denver Harbor location. Our new social worker is concentrating on our prenatal care patients and our patients who have uncontrolled diabetes and uncontrolled hypertension. We believe that this added layer of care will help us improve the overall well-being of our patients.

Our new strategic plan has two key areas; Implementation of social prescribing as part of our efforts to address non-medical drivers of health (AKA Social Determinants of Health -SDOH) and a new service line to not only manage but prevent chronic illness.