East Texas Cares and Resources Center, 427 S Oakland Ave, Tyler, TX 75702, US

The Longview Wellness Center is a multi-practice clinic that has been modeled after a federally qualified health center. The Center serves 9, 000 medically underserved people annually with plans to expand the patient base to more than 13, 000 by the end of fiscal year 2007. The highest number of users by diagnosis seen at the Center is hypertension followed by otitis media, severe mental disorders, diabetes mellitus, chronic bronchitis, contact dermatitis and asthma. The Center's client base is constantly evolving and has moved from one that almost exclusively served women of childbearing age to one that service children, men and older adults. In 1996 the Center was awarded Title V funding to provide obstetric, family planning and child health services and in 1997 received Title XX funding to expand family planning services and education. The Center began providing pediatrics onsite in 1997, and expanded into general medicine in 2000. Military are provided on a sliding fee scale for people that are not eligible for Medicaid, Medicare, Title V, Title XX or Primary Health Care Assistance. Self-pay and sliding fee scale patients are offered lab services at greatly reduced cost. In addition, there is a full-time staff member available to facilitate patient access to pharmaceutical assistance programs. The Center also administers a Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Services program that provides funding for low-income women to receive breast exams, mammograms and cervical examinations. Since 2001 the Center has identified 6 women with cancer. The Center has added other services; including, 2 Medicaid outreach workers; mental and behavioral health counseling, prevention activities and various public health initiatives. In 1999, the Center was awarded a Pregnant Postpartum Intervention program by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse to provide screenings, assessments, referrals, case management, education and follow-up for clinic patients. The Center administers grants from Texas Department of Health and the Texas Cancer Council for programs such as: the Male Involvement Program ( integrated into 2 school districts, local juvenile justice and the faith-based community ), colon cancer prevention and Women Infants and Children ( WIC ). The WIC program services more than 5000 individuals each month. In 2001, the Center received HRSA funding to expand the state funded East Texas Abstinence Program ( Virginity Rules ) to surrounding counties. This program now operates in 7 counties and 19 school districts and incorporates alternative activities that include: mentoring, talent competition and youth and adult coalitions. Evaluations performed by the University of Oregon demonstrate that the program has a significantly positive impact on individuals in the community. In 2003 the Center received a SAMHSA HIV/substance abuse prevention program to serve African American women receiving family planning services through the clinic. This program ( New Traditions ) has established an Institutional Review Board and a Community Advisory Board as well as a triage type prevention beginning at a selective level with intervention counseling that advances to group intervention at the indicated level. In 2004 the Center received additional substance abuse and violence prevention and intervention grants from the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. These programs are currently reaching more than 8000 children in local school districts. The Center's latest initiative is the addition of a part-time community psychiatric nurse practitioner who provides medication management and coordinates the treatment of certain co-morbid conditions. The Center's Wellness Bridge program started in 2005 with the SAMHSA funding. The program provides health and human services for people in need who are 60 years of age and older - to ensure the residents of Gregg, Harrison & Upshur counties receive quality primary and behavioral health care. In November 2005