The southwest side of Houston is home to two adjoining and struggling neighborhoods: Gulfton and Sharpstown, where more than 30 percent of residents live below the poverty line and high rates of chronic disease persist. Legacy Community Health, a full-service Federally Qualified Health Center that operates 40 clinics in southeast Texas, sought to address those challenges. “We began seven years ago by purchasing a building with an existing practice to serve those neighborhoods,” says Joel Kalmin, director of facilities planning at Legacy Community Health. “Over time, we put that building through three extensive renovations to accommodate our growth there and provide expanded services.”
When a plot of vacant land adjacent to the clinic became available, Legacy saw its chance to expand in a major way and continue to meet growing demand for health services in the area. To accomplish that while keeping the existing 14,000-square-foot building open during construction, the … Read the rest