Project Access
The Problem:
600,000 people in Dallas County currently lack health insurance and, accordingly, lack access to preventative health care and specialist care, such as gynecology, cardiology, oncology, etc. This lack of access to specialized medical care leaves patients without the ability to manage specialized health conditions that greatly impede their quality of life and ability to work.
Our Unique Response:
In 2001, the Dallas County Medical Society and several other community partners including CitySquare created Project Access Dallas to assist low-income Dallas County residents who are unable to afford health insurance. The program is a network of volunteer physicians who donate their specialty services to enrolled patients. Project Access Dallas is not an insurance program or government entitlement program but rather is funded through private donations and grants from local foundations. To visit the Project Access Dallas site, Click here
Patients are referred into Project Access Dallas by CitySquare’s Community Health Services program or other partnering charity medical clinics and partnering hospitals.
Because of the generous donated services of volunteers and partners, a patient enrolled in Project Access Dallas receives:
- A primary care physician (PCP) from the volunteer network. The PCP will manage any medical care the patient needs
- $1,500 per year in pharmacy benefits. (Patients typically have a $10 co-pay per prescription per 30-day supply
- Access to specialty care, labs, ancillary procedures, health navigation services and inpatient hospital care
Our Biggest Challenge:
Patients’ lack of resources that translate into lack of reliable transportation, illiteracy, and inability to communicate in English are significant barriers to our work.
Our Effectiveness:
Neighbors who are referred into Project Access Dallas are able to access medical resources that would alternatively only be accessed through having a health crisis emerge that leads them to the emergency room. This saves a tremendous amount of individual and community resources. Annually, Project Access Dallas serves over 3,000 individuals who would otherwise have no medical home for specialty care.
To hear from an individual whose life was changed by receiving medical services through Project Access Dallas, click here
To donate to Project Access programming, click here
