Fort Worth’s Las Vegas Trail gains access to medical care, other vital services

A new health center in Las Vegas Trail offers residents access to various medical care, a food pantry and workforce training.

A partnership between Cook Children’s, JPS Health Network, the city of Fort Worth and other community organizations brings the various offerings together under the clinic, the most recent development in the neighborhood. 

City leaders have focused on Las Vegas Trail due to its high rates of crime and poverty. Improvements aim to address a historic lack of services and commercial development. 

Strides made in the far west Fort Worth neighborhood include the opening of the RISE Community Center in 2020 and establishing a library within the center in 2021.

The main entrance of the new 40,000-square foot health center building opens to a lobby with entrances to the Cook Children’s and JPS locations.

The Cook Children’s Neighborhood Health Center is that system’s ninth such clinic.

Christina Reed, director of operations for Cook Children’s neighborhood health centers, said the clinic makes it easier for families in the area to access health care because it’s closer than other locations that could be difficult for them to reach. It offers services to the more than 20,000 children who live nearby.

Cook Children’s saw more than 4,000 visits to its emergency room and urgent care clinics by children from the neighborhood in 2024, according to the health care system. Most visits were for primary care.

“This had been considered a medical desert, actually,” said Wini King, Cook Children’s chief of communications and employee connections and a senior vice president. “There was nothing here to provide this kind of convenience for these patients.”

The clinic has the typical features of a doctor’s office, including a station for checking vital signs and exam rooms. It also has shelves of books donated by the Red Oak Foundation and dental kits to be distributed to patients.

Visitors who are not proficient in English can access live translation services through rolling video translation devices.

More than 40 languages are spoken among Las Vegas Trail residents, said Paige Charbonnet, executive director of the nonprofit LVTRise.

The JPS clinic will serve adults and children by offering primary care, women’s health care and mental health services.

“This will be an opportunity to truly embed the behavioral health care into the physical health care because we want to make sure that we’re treating the whole patient and all of their needs,” said Dr. Nekesha Oliphant, JPS chair of psychiatry and behavioral health. “Being part of this community will remove some of those barriers and increase access.”

Cook Children’s and JPS each offer services to help community members access insurance and financial assistance programs, including Affordable Care Act plans, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and JPS Connection.

The center includes a demonstration kitchen where free nutrition classes will be offered to teach residents how to cook healthy meals.

Rows of tables face a large stove and counter. A camera above the cooking area can project an overhead view so participants can see what the instructor is doing.

“We’re teaching and we’re also learning from them, so people are more than welcome to share kind of the things they do at home and maybe ways we can work together,” Cook Children’s dietician Maya Rashad said.

A food pantry through WestAid, a nonprofit fighting food insecurity in western Tarrant County, offers shelf-stable pantry staples, such as peanut butter and rice, as well as refrigerated and frozen items, including meat. Also available are diapers from the Junior League of Fort Worth Diaper Bank and dog food provided by Don’t Forget to Feed Me, a Fort Worth-based nonprofit pet food bank.

The center’s police storefront gives officers a place to take a lunch break or write reports without leaving the neighborhood, Fort Worth Police Cmdr. Amy Heise said. It will be a “launching point” for the department’s community programs, she said.

Capt. Brent Halford, who oversees community and youth programs, said the storefront offers “a local solution to an opportunity desert.”

“It’s convenient to be right in the area that needs us,” he said.

Soon, the center will offer classes to teach residents about topics such as customer service, Microsoft Office and professional development skills in collaboration with Tarrant County College and Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. Participants earn a certificate upon completion and apply for entry-level jobs at Cook Children’s and JPS.

“The whole goal is to create that pathway for them to get a career in health care and grow that career, which will overall improve their economic well-being and their overall health,” said Christine Hernandez, a workforce development specialist for Cook Children’s.

The clinics and food pantry are open. Workforce development classes begin Sept. 16. The demonstration kitchen holds its first class Aug 20.

Council member Michael Crain, whose district includes Las Vegas Trail, also serves as a board member for LVTRise. He said the center provides charity but more than anything, it empowers the community. 

 “It’s about the growth that can happen and about just making lives better across the board,” he said.

McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org. 

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