San José Clinic

Houston, Texas
Grant Amount: $25,000

Started in 1922, then later incorporated in 1992, the San José Clinic is the oldest charity clinic still in operation in the U.S.  Their patient population comes from more than 200 zip codes across Harris County, Texas and surrounding counties including Austin, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, Waller, and Wharton.  They serve only those who have no form of health insurance and whose income is 200 percent of or below the federal poverty guidelines.  Using these guidelines, they take into account an individual’s family size and income to determine patient fees through an eligibility process; fees range from $15 to $35 per visit.

Last year, the clinic served 4,654 patients through 29,983 visits, representing a 10 percent increase in visits over the previous year.  They also received $788,627 worth of prescription medications for patients through various pharmaceutical assistance programs.

One-third of the Houston area population, where San José Clinic is located, lacks health insurance.  This translates to approximately 1.3 million uninsured locals.  In addition, 90 percent of the clinic’s patient population is Hispanic.  Statistics show that 10 percent of Hispanics aged 20 and above have been diagnosed with diabetes; moreover, Mexican Americans are almost twice as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites in the same age group.

San José Clinic will receive a $25,000 grant to standardized their diabetes education program to better manage all of their diabetic patients.  Last year, the clinic’s R.N. Health Educator saw 279 diabetic patients through the program, yet during that same time period, the clinic had 624 diabetic patients – meaning that the R.N. Health Educator was able to only see close to half of the clinic’s diabetic patients.  Grant funds will be used mainly to boost the R.N. Health Educator from a part-time to full-time position.  A care plan for each diabetic patient will be managed by a worksheet that measure all of the quality indicators for diabetes.  The R.N. Health Educator will train all of the clinic’s medical staff on the use of the worksheet, which will be included in the patient’s medical record, and on the protocols for ensuring patient compliance with the recommendations.  A chart audit will be completed to evaluate whether the medical staff complies with the standardized program.