HOUSTON – History is all around you in the Third Ward.
“Every time I walk into that house I get that warm fuzzy feeling because that was my house and now it’s my daughter’s house,” Landa Harris said.
Harris’ family history stretches beyond Emancipation Avenue just around the corner to Elgin Street.
“Houston Negro Hospital... I was born there,” she said.
The hospital, which opened in 1927, was the first local nonprofit hospital for black patients and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
Years later, the hospital became Riverside General Hospital, which shut down in 2015 after a Medicare scandal, leaving many people in the Third Ward neighborhood shut out of accessible healthcare.
“There really is kinda no healthcare in the immediate area,” Harris said.
City leaders announced a new plan for the building on Monday.
The building will now be the home of Harris County Public Health’s ACCESS Division, which stands for Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self-Sufficiency. Initially, they’ll focus on Black Maternal Health, homelessness, behavioral health conditions, violence prevention and more.
“It’s very needed across the board,” said homeowner James Donatto II.
It’s being funded by the Houston Endowment and the government of Qatar. The first phase is expected to cost $16 million.
According to Episcopal Health Foundation’s Life Expectancy Map, the Life expectancy rate in the 77004 zip code is between 68-72 years old, which is the bottom 5% and the lowest across the state.
Their data shows that 21% of families earn less than 125% of the federal poverty level, which is currently $34,000 for a family of four. While 13% of people in the area don’t have health insurance.
In the Heights zip code of 77008, life expectancy is 81 years old and only 5% of residents there are below the federal poverty line.
“The lower-income people are the ones that need the healthcare the most,” Harris said.