The Board of Directors of Beeville Medical Associates (BMA) is pleased to announce that the Live Oak Medical Associates (LOMA) clinic of George West has officially been designated a Rural Health Clinic and a “provider” of Texas Healthsteps.

Healthsteps provides regular medical and dental services for children at no cost to their families and is an integral part of their health care safety net.

“Becoming a Rural Health Clinic (RHC), and a Healthsteps provider can be a rigorous undertaking,” says Dr. Frank Dehnisch, BMA managing partner. “We have been working on these designations for three years”. Dehnisch explains that a prospective provider first must apply to Medicare to be designated as a Rural Health Clinic. After being approved by Medicare, the provider then may apply for its Medicaid and Texas Healthsteps designations. Each step is lengthy and detailed. The process is complicated, but the RHC designation is very important to areas short on medical care.

These areas may officially be designated by the state as being “medically underserved”. This makes them eligible for RHC’s that receive enhanced reimbursement under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The additional reimbursement can make it financially feasible to expand health care services in underserved areas. This also is applicable to Federally Qualified Health Centers, (FQHC), one of which may be established in Three Rivers in the future.

“We are working to help fill the health care gap in Live Oak County, Dehnisch said. Hopefully, the enhanced RHC reimbursement will allow BMA to assign more providers to the George West clinic.

Dehnisch reported that Dr. Francisco Miranda, a pediatrician who recently joined BMA, soon will be available to provide medical services two to three days weekly for children in George West. In discussing his new role with BMA clinics, Miranda said, “My family and I are very excited about being a part of the George West clinic.”

According to the Oct. 7, issue of The Progress, the importance of Texas Healthsteps was discussed at a recent meeting of national, state and local officials in Three Rivers. They said that Live Oak County is one of 11 counties in Texas “lagging” when it comes to the utilization of Healthsteps by county children. One official said that only 24.4% of eligible children in the county receive Texas Healthsteps.

Dehnisch pledged that Live Oak Medical Associates will do its part to alleviate this condition in our communities. He went on to say BMA is happy to hear of the possibility of a FQHC for Three Rivers. “A FQHC located there would be a major step forward in the expansion of heath care services for the county.” Dehnisch pointed out that BMA has had an interest in the FQHC program for several years. “Not long ago we worked with the community to explore a FQHC for George West. A center there would make FQHC services more accessible to the southern part of the county,” Dehnisch stated.

BMA has been a provider of Healthsteps in Beeville since the mid 1990’s. Dehnisch and Terrance Meineke, PA, currently are the provider staff in the LOMA clinic. They are pleased that Miranda will join them soon.