While Congress debates what to fund or not to fund, the Community Health Choice organizations in Houston are frustrated.
Hundreds of thousands of the underserved depend on that care.
“One of the reasons we’re so important, especially in Texas, is we still have the highest rate of uninsured people in Texas,” said Katy Caldwell, the CEO of Legacy Community Health. “Without the Community Health Centers, we’re the backbone of the safety net. We actually hold the safety net is the way I usually say it.”
Ken Janda is the president and CEO of Community Health Choice, whose organization offers insurance coverage.
He said that, without the political bickering, he’s optimistic about the future.
“Texas, as a state, could have more flexibility in terms of how we do our Medicaid program,” he said. “So I’m still optimistic that, at some point, we’ll have a discussion in Texas about how we can cover even more people through an expansion of coverage for low-income people.”
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Harrison Kothari died shortly after his 2nd birthday.
His parents spent the last 31 days of his life with him in the hospital and several weeks prior to that. Because of the stress they all experienced, Harrison’s Heroes was born.
Shanoop Kothari is Harrison's father.
“We realized hospital stays like that are a tremendous stress for the families and the kids and we wanted to, in his memory to do something to help those kids," he said.
Find out how they’re helping and how you can help ease the burden of hospitalized children, on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
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How African-American women leaders are portrayed by the media is one of the topics in a book by Creshema Murray, an assistant professor at the University of Houston Downtown. The book is titled "Leadership Through the Lens."
Houston Newsmakers: Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. during the Olympics
- Katy Caldwell, CEO Legacy Community 832-548-5000, https://legacycommunityhealth.com, Twitter:@LegacyCommunity
- Ken Janda, president & CEO Community Health Choice, 713-295-2294, https://communityhealthchoice.org, twitter: @CHCTexas
- Creshema Murray, asst. professor, University of Houston Downtown, 713-221-5034, murraycr@uhd.edu
- Shanoop Kothari, co-founder Harrison’s Heroes, 713-530-7689, www.harrisonsheroes.org Email: info@harrisonsheroes.org
- Laurie Davis, director of communications, Harrison’s Heroes, 713-530-7689 www.harrisonsheroes.org, Email: info@harrisonsheroes.org
- The Harrison’s Heroes Wine Tasting Soiree will be held on Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Houston Racquet Club