Sen. Cornyn, Mayor Martin Applaud The Community Health Center Of Lubbock For Efforts To Provide Affordable Health Care To Underserved West Texans

Press Release

Sen. Cornyn, Mayor Martin Applaud The Community Health Center Of Lubbock For Efforts To Provide Affordable Health Care To Underserved West Texans

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today toured the Community Health Center of Lubbock (CHCL) Medical Clinic and highlighted the importance of Community Health Centers in providing affordable health care services to underserved and rural areas across Texas and the country. Sen. Cornyn was joined by Mayor Tom Martin and other city leaders.

"Texas and our nation face serious health care challenges—chief among them, the lack of access to affordable health care for millions of Americans. One way we can work to address this challenge is through health care facilities like the Community Health Center of Lubbock, which I visited today. The CHCL offers affordable care to West Texas residents who, due to limited or no insurance, might otherwise go without critical health care services like immunizations and diabetes or cancer screenings. The center also delivers these critical services through Mobile Units to rural patients who have difficulty making the long trip to access the health care they need," Sen. Cornyn said.

"I was glad to help secure funding on the federal level for CHCL to enhance their dental and mental health care services. Today Mayor Martin and I were able to see firsthand how that funding is being used to care for underserved patients. By providing preventive health care services to West Texas families, the staff at CHCL and community health centers across the country can make a positive difference as we seek to ensure that every American has access to quality health care they can afford."

Sen. Cornyn recently assisted CHCL in securing federal funding to enhance its services. In September, the center was awarded $150,000 to expand mental health care services and $250,000 to boost dental care services.

Sen. Cornyn also co-sponsored legislation, which was signed into law earlier this month, to directly help health centers like CHCL expand their services to regions where uninsured and underinsured populations are high. The Health Care Safety Net Act provides new incentives to attract physicians and other health care professionals to medically underserved areas and renews the Community Health Centers program for an additional five years. Under the new law, medical professionals will receive assistance with loan repayment or scholarships in exchange for committing to serve for a certain time period in medically underserved areas.

Background on CHCL:
The Community Health Center of Lubbock was founded in 1992 and has been serving underserved citizens from Lubbock, Crosby, Lynn, Terry, and Garza counties. This service area has been designated as a Medically Underserved Area and a Health Professional Shortage Area. Currently, CHCL has 5 different clinics and 129 employees. The center provides services beyond medical care in areas such as health education, nutrition, transportation assistance, substance abuse and mental health counseling.

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