Missouri City health center aims to help and uplift uninsured

Pooja Lodhia Image
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Missouri City health center aims to help and uplift uninsured
Access Health says they don't turn away people based on their ability to pay, and offer help for the entire family.

MISSOURI CITY, Texas (KTRK) -- Rachel Charles always wanted to be a mother.

"They are my world," she explained. "Starting from my eldest, she has been the start of the way I am as a mother."

But Charles never thought it would be so difficult taking care of her 15-year-old, 3-year-old and 8-month-old girls.

She lost her job after a car crash left her disabled and her three children are now on Medicaid.

"Being a single mom is hard," she said. "It's really hard, especially in my condition and trying to do everything I can to provide for them."

That means coming to Access Health in Missouri City for regular check-ups. The nonprofit and federally qualified health center uses a combination of payments, grants and donations to treat its patients.

"We take folks with insurance, we take the uninsured, Medicaid, CHIP plans, and we don't refuse anybody for the ability to pay," explained Access Health CEO, Mike Dotson.

Together, the five Access Health clinics in the area serve 20,000 patients. Their main clinic is located in Richmond, but Access Health has dozens of community health centers all around, according to its website.

For more information, visit www.myaccesshealth.org.

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