Conroe ISD is collaborating with the Lone Star Family Health Center to create a local health clinic at Ben Milam Elementary.

The health clinic opening gives new opportunities to the area, creating affordable expenses than traditional doctors visits.

Superintendent Dr. Don Stockton said the clinic will help.

“It was an ideal opportunity for us to partner with the Lone Star Clinic, to put something out there that meets the needs of the community,” he said.

Grangerland lies within a federally designated Medically Underserved Area, meaning there is no access to any medical professionals for a 10-mile radius. With a health clinic opening nearby, this area can get to a medical center without paying as much money as traveling to Conroe, according to a press release from the LSFHC.

With two-thirds of Grangerland living below 200 percent of the federal poverty line with a median household income of $55,900, the clinic will serve an area with typically no access to regular medical care.

“Our new Grangerland clinic will fill a large need for primary healthcare services in this part of our county,” said Karen Harwell, CEO of LSFHC, in the release.

“Unlike our three other clinics in Conroe, Spring and Willis, Grangerland will not receive any federal funding to support operations, but as a community health center, we believe it is our responsibility to provide high quality, low-cost healthcare to everyone.”

LSFHC has payment options and helps for those underinsured or with no insurance. Based on income, area residents can get help with payments on visits, trips to the emergency room and prescriptions. In addition, they also have a bilingual staff.

After Hurricane Harvey, the clinic will offer a self-pay option to allow residents to pay what they can per month while the community rebuilds.

In addition, the project is not going to hurt the district’s wallet.

“It’s not costing us at all,” said Dr. Stockton. “It’s a true win-win situation.

“We had land; they had the means to make the clinic happen. We came together to agree on it.”

LSFHC said placing the facility between the four existing schools in the Grangerland area would offer the “greatest access to services for the community.”

CISD agreed and leased the property to LSFHC on Ben Milam Elementary’s camps.

According to LSFHC, the clinic “will operate within one mile of Grangerland Intermediate, Moorhead Junior High and Caney Creek High Schools, all campuses that exceed the state average for free and reduced lunch program enrollment, with Ben Milam student enrollment reaching nearly 80 percent.”

The clinic will be funded through LSFHC’s own cash reserves, along with support from the Simmons Foundation and Montgomery County Community Development, The clinic will be open to all community members, not only CISD students, and is expected to serve 480 patients through 1,200 visits in its first year.

For more information on the LSFHC, visit www.lonestarfamily.org.