Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Reem Al-Sayyad, B.S.A: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Raghad Obeidat, BDS, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Anneta Bitouni, DDS, MS, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Abstract: Objective: Access to care, a social determinant of health (SDH), is essential for health improvement. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and transportation to them, affect access to care. This study aims to describe the FQHCs in North Texas (NT), and available transportation to them.
Methods: Identification of the counties and FQHCs present in NT (rural/urban) involved a web-based search. Information concerning: types of professional and transportation services provided, funding source, and operational hours were collected via online search and phone interviews. Data was recorded using Excel. Data analysis was performed in SPSS.
Results: In the thirty counties (sixteen rural, fourteen urban) of NT, there are forty-five FQHCs (five rural, forty urban). Out of sixteen rural counties, two have at least one FQHC. Out of fourteen urban counties, eight have at least one FQHC. Public transportation is the most common in rural and urban FQHCs (100% and 92.5% respectively). Two urban FQHCs offer no transportation. The main funding source is federal (73.3%). The majority of FQHCs operate during 8am-5pm (33.3%). Dentistry is the fourth most common provided service in rural and urban FQHCs (20% vs 35%). The association between county location and having at least one FQHC present was statistically significant (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: In NT, many rural counties do not have FQHCs. The majority of FQHCs offer some type of transportation. To improve access to care, advocacy efforts need to increase for a greater number of FQHCs -especially in rural areas- and available transportation services.
