Mercy Ministries of Laredo

Mercy Ministries of Laredo provides integrated primary healthcare and behavioral health services to low income and uninsured families of webb county, Texas. Services are provided at Mercy clinic located at 2500 zacatecas street and at ten outreach sites throughout webb county via a medical mobile clinic. Mercy mobile clinic delivers services to colonias (unincorporated areas), inner city and outlying areas where medical help is inaccessible. The main programs are primary and behavioral health services, outreach and education, adult dental services and medication assistance program. A total of 1,646 unduplicated patients were served in fiscal year 2023.primary & behavioral healthcare: the primary and behavioral health programs are staffed with family nurse practitioners, women's health nurse practitioners and licensed professional counselors. The practitioners had over 8,200 medical encounters during the fiscal year. Behavioral health counseling and screening has been integrated into the primary healthcare program to aid patients with behavior modification and control of anxiety and depression. There were 2,080 counseling encounters during the year. All patients are screened for anxiety and depression at their annual wellness exam. The primary healthcare program focuses on prevention and education. It includes annual physical and wellness exams with screenings for diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. The program also includes screenings for breast, cervical, colon and prostate cancer. There were 1,738 cancer screening tests performed in fiscal year 2023. Thirteen patients were diagnosed during the year with some form of cancer and were referred to specialists for treatment. Mercy clinic collaborates with local oncologists and diagnosticians to assist patients with expenses for treatment. All cases are followed by case managers. Case managers and social workers play a critical role in the primary healthcare program. Mid-level practitioners refer patients to physicians and/or specialty physicians when necessary. The case managers guide patients through the medical system and make all specialty and follow up referrals. Over 1,432 patients were referred to medical specialists for care. Social workers and case managers had over 10,661 patient encounters during fiscal year 2023. Diabetic and pre-diabetic patients are monitored closely by the clinic. Education, counseling, nutrition and exercise classes are provided in an effort to aid patients control their disease. A total of 1,053 unduplicated diabetic patients were seen through the program.

Mercy Ministries of Laredo's other programs include medication assistance and an adult dental clinic. The medication assistance program guides patients through the process of securing free or low-cost medications through pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies provided $1,223,033 of medications for clinic patients during fiscal year 2023. Mercy Ministries also collaborates with local pharmacies to help patients obtain antibiotics and other medications necessary for their care. The dental program provides services to adult clinic patients. The clinic is open three days per week and is staffed by local dentists and Mercy employees. During fiscal year 2023, 2,328 procedures were performed valued at $184,178. The dental clinic saw 361 unduplicated patients accounting for 1,098 dental visits for the year.

Outreach & education: a critical part of Mercy's program is reaching out to people who live in remote areas. The outreach program seeks to educate patients on the need for a medical home and regular physical exams. Outreach provides medical services via the Mercy medical mobile clinic to patients at four locations throughout webb county Texas. An additional community health worker has been hired to increase outreach into more communities. The community health workers were able to provide 58 educational sessions reaching 3,784 participants.