A groundbreaking health clinic has opened in the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood of Fort Worth, ending the neighborhood’s status as a health care desert and bringing needed care closer to home for thousands of residents.
The clinic, which began seeing patients July 23, includes a Cook Children’s Health Care System neighborhood clinic as well as a JPS Health Network medical home. The clinic is expected to serve more than 100,000 people who live in the neighborhood and nearby, according to Cook Children’s, as well as more than 20,000 children age 14 and younger. The 40,000-square-foot health center was built on 3.7 acres of donated land at the intersection of Calmont Avenue and Cherry Lane.
Before the clinic opened, residents had limited options when it came to health care, according to a 2022 LVT transformation plan. About one in every four families in the neighborhood lack reliable transportation, according to the plan. For those families, a trip to the doctor could take well over an hour. Getting to the Northside Community Health Center near Sansom Park, for example, would take a 20-minute walk to a bus stop, a 32-minute bus ride, and then another 20-minute walk to finally reach the clinic
One patient who will benefit from having a clinic in the neighborhood is Yolanda Phillips, a mom of two and LVT resident who said past trips to the doctor have been inconvenient and difficult. Past trips to urgent cares or the emergency room “just took forever,” Phillips said.
Now, Phillips is “right down the street” from the clinic, making it more convenient to take her two children to the doctor but also for her to get treatment…