SOMERVILLE, Texas (KRHD) — Residents who rely on the healthcare at the HealthPoint Clinic in Somerville are searching for new healthcare providers after the company announced an upcoming temporary closure Monday.
- HealthPoint announced its Somerville location closure after struggling to find a full-time provider since August 2024.
- The company is currently searching for healthcare providers while encouraging residents to visit their locations in Caldwell, Brenham, Hearne, Bryan-College Station, Navasota or utilize its Telehealth Acute Care Services.
- The location will officially close on Feb. 28, but staff will be "retained" and transferred to other locations.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"How did you feel after hearing the announcement that the HealthPoint Clinic in Somerville was closing?"15ABC asked.
"Well, I was thinking of where I was going to find another PCP," Jayne Clay, a frequent user of the clinic, said.
Jayne Clay, along with other neighbors in Somerville, will have to find a new place to get healthcare.
"I go there. My granddaughter goes there," she said.
The HealthPoint Clinic is closing indefinitely.
"One of the challenges that we're experiencing, and not just that clinic, but a lot of healthcare organizations are experiencing, is finding a full-time provider that wants to live and be part of a rural community," Chief Operations Officer Mary Wauters said.
It's been struggling to find a full-time provider since August.
"We've got quite a few postings put out in all the different locations and rural areas and provider networks, and unfortunately right now, we just haven't had anyone that's been willing to accept the position," she said.
The clinic served about 3,600 people last year — an average of 50 patients per week.
"From a payer standpoint out there, there is a large under-served population, and so about 50% of that patient population is under the federal poverty level," Wauters said.
But when it closes, there will only be two healthcare facilities in the county about 20 minutes away in Caldwell.
Jayne tells 15ABC's Brieanna Smith she's been looking for another provider but hasn't had any luck.
"I'm probably going to have to go to Bryan-College Station, and that's a little bit of a drive there, about 40 minutes," Clay said. "But I guess we do what we have to do. But it is an inconvenience."
