Van
Zandt County
Low Income Primary Care Access
Summary
of Information:
Low
Income Population: 20,328 (at or
below 200% FPL, 1998)
Total
practicing primary care physicians: 11
Regular
full time equivalency: 9.1
Full
time equivalents serving the low-income population: 1.1
Ratio
of low-income population to low-income FTE:
18,480:1
Considered
a shortage of providers: Yes,
currently designated
as
whole-county HPSA.
Physicians
accepting new patients: 91%
Physicians
accepting new patients who have Medicaid coverage: 77%
Physicians
who can provide interpretation for non-English speaking patients: 44%
Languages
interpreted: Spanish
What
are the barriers to health care for people in your county?
“Health
care is expensive.”
“Not
enough doctors, and too few are taking new patients.”
“Hospital
is small, due to funding can’t offer enough services. There is limited access
to specialists, lack of money to be earned by physicians.”
“Don’t
have Americaid in Van Zandt County-no one accepts it, it’s for people who don’t
qualify for
Medicaid and don’t have insurance. Also
transportation is a barrier.”
“Economy.
Financial—lack of money, lack of insurance, Mexicans are usually brought to the
doctor by the people they work for,
who translate for them.”