Vecino Health Center’s CEO, Daniel Montez, spoke on a health care panel at Intersections 2016, a cross-disciplinary conference on quality of life, health, equity, development and environmental issues facing the growing Houston area.
The session brought together experts to discuss how to inoculate entire neighborhoods for health. Solutions on how to do so in a just and equitable way when not all places and people have equal access to health-supporting social and physical conditions were explored. The event was hosted by Houston Tomorrow.
Daniel provided the health care provider perspective on the panel, emphasizing the need for preventative care for low-income working families. He highlighted that, as a Federally Qualified Health Center, Vecino offers medical, dental and mental health services regardless of insurance or ability to pay. The community-driven, approach–providing care based on the needs of residents in neighborhoods around clinics–was also discussed. The session revealed that critical speciality services can become available to residents when like-minded institutions collaborate in Houston.