Inside the University of Houston nurse-managed clinic in downtown Houston, you can catch a glimpse of students and nurses caring for the underserved population.
The clinic, which is open Monday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., offers health, dental and now vision screenings.
The clinic aims to enhance healthcare access to the underserved population in midtown Houston and people facing housing insecurity, which means people living in poor-quality housing, unstable neighborhoods or experiencing homelessness.
Jimmie St. Val went to the clinic to get medication for high blood pressure when she learned students could now give her a free vision screening.
“They did my vision history, you know, for my family, and then they examined me for cataracts and things like that. My grandfather had cataracts and my mom had glaucoma,” St. Val said. “They examined me for the cataracts and told me I had slight cataracts, but I didn’t have to remove them right now.”
That information didn’t require payment or a copay because the clinic is entirely free to patients.
If a patient requires further examination or testing, they’d have to go somewhere else and pay for further treatment. However, St. Val said having that information is valuable to her, so she doesn’t have to go somewhere right away and pay for another eye exam. Plus, she said she likes the clinic because they treat her well, and unlike other free clinics, she said this one doesn’t have a long wait.
“Most of them don’t have Medicare or like insurance so they don’t know where to go,” explained Shainy Varghese, UH Professor of Nursing.
The clinic is mutually beneficial since students are getting hands-on experience while the patients get some much-needed care.
The clinic is located on the grounds of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 5401 Fannin St.
It draws in patients from the Emergency Aid Coalition, an interfaith organization also located at the church.