ETHAN tackles transportation

Transportation is an important topic in health care, according to Denise Holcomb, assistant office manager for ETHAN (East Texas Health Access Network).

"We have a dire need for transportation to take people to specialists in Galveston, to take them to clinics and places where they could get help, if only they had a way to get there," according to Holcomb.

"East Texas Support Services help some of the Medicaid patients, but we have a need for every day people in everyday situations," Holcomb said.

Without public transportation, elderly residents who can no longer drive and the indigent without cars who need repeated visits to free clinics or therapy often suffer from costly complications when they don't get the regular treatment they need.

The next ETHAN public meeting, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. in the Robert Hall Administration Building behind Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital, will discuss transportation.

Speakers will include Lillie Robinson, Jasper Newton County Public Health District; Rodney Polk, TexCare EMS; Theresa Janeaux, East Texas Support Services; and Artie Faye Day, Stat Care EMS.