Texas Children’s will close its Centers for Children and Women
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Texas Children's Hospital is closing both of its Center for Children and Women locations, which primarily serve low-income families.
Why it matters: The hospital said the news "will not change" coverage but pointed people to ways to find new providers, likely leaving patients from underserved communities in search of new health care options — at least in the short term.
Driving the news: The Greenspoint center will close Dec. 1, per the hospital's website. And the Bissonnet Street location will close June 30, per the Houston Chronicle.
- The hospital did not confirm the Bissonnet closure date to Axios, nor did it respond to questions regarding the reason for the closures.
- A spokesperson did confirm that the hospital plans to launch a new "optimized model" that will be "bigger and better and will include many more locations and services for families to choose from" but did not specify a timeline.
Zoom in: Both centers exclusively serve members of Texas Children's Health Plan, an insurance program that covers more than 600,000 children and families who already have Medicaid or the federal Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
- The centers had been advertised as a "new kind of medical facility designed to put everything in one place," with services for children and families including pregnancy care, dentistry and behavioral health.
Be smart: Medicaid and CHIP are federal programs that offer subsidized health coverage to some low-income people, families, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Flashback: The Greenspoint location launched in 2013, and the Southwest Houston location opened two years later.
- At the time, the hospital said the centers were "designed to address the shortage of primary care medical needs" for Medicaid and CHIP recipients.
What's next: In a statement, a Texas Children's spokesperson told Axios that the hospital's new "care model" will improve the quality of care and expand access.
- "Ultimately, this will give families more options for care by Texas Children's physicians closer to home in all the communities we serve."