TERLINGUA — Over the past six months, Brewster County healthcare advocates have been carefully monitoring the progress of a clinic in Terlingua. Thanks to a major grant from the USDA, local patients can receive top-quality care without having to drive all the way to Alpine or Presidio.
The pilot clinic — temporarily housed out of the South Brewster County Emergency Response Center on FM 170 — has seen 116 new patients since late April. Appointments are available five hours a week on Wednesdays for basic primary care services.
Linda Molinar, CEO of Preventative Care Health Services (PCHS), updated the Big Bend Regional Hospital District (BBRHD) board at last month’s regular meeting. “Word is getting out,” she said. “We’re really hoping that this grant is the genesis for something that’s sustainable and long term.”
One of the major challenges of providing healthcare in Terlingua is tracking the remote community’s demographics. Molinar said that the team had been able to piece together some patterns from Terlingua residents who traveled to PCHS clinics in Alpine, Marfa and Presidio — most surprisingly, that many of these patients paid through commercial insurance.
Board member Regan Reed pointed out that the need to travel might be skewing the data. “These patients might have insurance because they have the means to get to Marfa or Alpine or Presidio,” he said.
Ashley Grover, a nurse currently treating patients at the new clinic in Terlingua, said that she had her hands full, and that she often received off-the-clock requests from friends and neighbors for basic check-ups. “The clinic is getting very busy,” she said. “I think if we could open more days a week, that would be huge.”
The main constraint of the new clinic — affectionately referred to as “the Closet” — is space. Molinar explained that the grant had not been written to include funding for a permanent space, whether the organization decided to purchase a building or build one from scratch.
Like many other corners of the Big Bend, the tourism boom has put a major premium on real estate. PCHS would have to get creative — and lucky. “I need a unicorn,” Molinar said.
The other major component of the USDA grant is a community paramedicine program, which certifies EMS staff to provide primary care services at home for folks who can’t travel to see a doctor in person. Chief Susan Martin of Terlingua Fire and EMS told The Big Bend Sentinel that that program had seen success in South Brewster County as well. “People really have trouble getting to the doctor, so they don’t seek help,” she explained.
The Terlingua community paramedicine program is outfitted with an SUV that can travel rugged backroads while still being able to carry everything the team needs to administer check-ups. So far, five patients have signed up for weekly appointments.
Martin hopes that other remote communities can learn from their success. “I feel like we’ve opened a door,” she said. “We’ve found a really unique niche for rural medicine.”