EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — More than 70 community health centers across Texas — including three in El Paso — will soon receive funds as part of the American Rescue Plan, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday.
HRSA-funded clinics in El Paso include Project Vida Health Center, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincente de Paul and Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe.
Funding will be awarded at the beginning of April by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
HHS said health centers will be able to support and expand efforts for COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations in vulnerable communities; deliver preventative and primary health care services to people at high-risk for contracting COVID-19; and expand health centers’ operational capacity.
Moreover, the funds will also go toward modifying and improving physical health center infrastructure, while also adding mobile units.
The investment is meant to increase access to vaccinations among hard-hit populations, like the El Paso community.
Health centers funded by the HRSA are community-based and patient-oriented organizations that deliver quality primary health care that is affordable and accessible to medically underserved communities and vulnerable populations.
More than 91 percent of health center patients are individuals or families living at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and nearly 63 percent are racial or ethnic minorities.
“Every American should have the security of knowing they have access to quality, affordable health care, especially as we face a pandemic that has exposed the disparities facing rural, minority and lower-income communities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
