January 13, 2023 – (Tarrant County) – Tarrant County Public Health hosts numerous pop-up COVID-19 clinics across Tarrant County each week in partnership with public and private organizations listed below. Each site has the Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines. Infants six months and older are eligible for the vaccination. Parents need to bring proof of the child’s age and their own ID for the vaccination. Booster vaccinations are available at all of the vaccination locations.
TCPH would like to bring a COVID-19 vaccination clinic to businesses, churches, and organizations in the community that are interested in hosting a pop-up clinic. It’s easy and free to host a clinic.
In addition to the vaccination opportunities below, the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Hurst, and Tarrant County College have also added opportunities for vaccinations. To find a local vaccine site, the County created a vaccine finder page: VaxUpTC website.
Pop-Up COVID-19 locations:
Baker Chapel AME Church Saturday, Jan. 14: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 1050 E. Humboldt St. Fort Worth, TX 76104
Advent Health Care Center of Burleson Tuesday, Jan. 17: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 301 Huguley Blvd. Burleson, TX 76028
Vaxmobile-Southside Community Center Thursday, Jan. 19: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 959 E. Rosedale St. Fort Worth, TX 76104
Tarrant County Public Health CIinics:
Northwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3800 Adam Grubb Road Lake Worth, TX 76135
Bagsby-Williams Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3212 Miller Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76119
Southeast Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 536 W Randol Mill Arlington TX, 76011
Main Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 1101 S. Main Street Fort Worth, TX 76104
Southwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6551 Granbury Road Fort Worth, TX 76133
Watauga Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6601 Watauga Road Watauga, TX 76148
For more information go to coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health information line, 817-248-6299, Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
January 5, 2023 – (Tarrant County) – Tarrant County Public Health hosts numerous pop-up COVID-19 clinics across Tarrant County each week in partnership with public and private organizations listed below. Each site has the Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines. Infants six months and older are eligible for the vaccination. Parents need to bring proof of the child’s age and their own ID for the vaccination. Booster vaccinations are available at all of the vaccination locations.
TCPH would like to bring a COVID-19 vaccination clinic to businesses, churches, and organizations in the community that are interested in hosting a pop-up clinic. It’s easy and free to host a clinic.
In addition to the vaccination opportunities below, the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Hurst, and Tarrant County College have also added opportunities for vaccinations. To find a local vaccine site, the County created a vaccine finder page: VaxUpTC website.
Pop-Up COVID-19 locations:
Beth Eden Baptist Church Saturday, Jan. 7: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 3308 Wilbarger St. Fort Worth, TX 76119
Cityview Nursing and Rehabilitation Tuesday, Jan. 10: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5801 Bryant Irvin Rd. Fort Worth, TX 76132
Vaxmobile-Watauga City Hall Thursday, Jan. 12: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 7105 Whitley Rd. Watauga, TX 76148
Tarrant County Public Health CIinics:
Northwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3800 Adam Grubb Road Lake Worth, TX 76135
Bagsby-Williams Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3212 Miller Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76119
Southeast Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 536 W Randol Mill Arlington TX, 76011
Main Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 1101 S. Main Street Fort Worth, TX 76104
Southwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6551 Granbury Road Fort Worth, TX 76133
Watauga Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6601 Watauga Road Watauga, TX 76148
For more information go to coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health information line, 817-248-6299, Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The holidays are a time of joy and celebration for many, but they could turn tragic if someone takes one pill they should not. Substance misuse – especially unwittingly taking street drugs that contain fentanyl – can destroy a life.
“The use of mind-altering substances is always more prevalent during the holidays. Unfortunately, this holiday season the risks of death are much higher because so many pills contain illegally manufactured fentanyl (IMF),” said CM Schade, MD, member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) and past president of the Texas Pain Society (TPS). A very small amount of IMF is deadly, and people taking drugs laced with IMF are completely unaware that the pill they are consuming could kill them.
As uncomfortable a subject as it might be to address, Dr. Schade urges parents to discuss this with teenagers and young adults at home on the holiday school break. He also suggests adults heed this advice, too.
“If you got a pill from a friend or bought it off the street and it has IMF in it, it could seriously harm or kill you. If it was in the medicine cabinet but not prescribed to you, it could seriously harm or kill you as well,” said Dr. Schade. “Don’t take a chance on these; it’s just not worth it.”
Dr. Schade has some tips for Texans to stay safe:
Don’t take pills containing opioids unless prescribed to you by a physician for a health issue like chronic or severe pain relief. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warns that six out of 10 fake pills contain lethal doses of fentanyl. It is very difficult to tell counterfeit drugs from legitimate ones, so the danger is very real that someone may consume a pill that could be deadly.
During gatherings with loved ones, it is important to be vigilant with prescription medication. Lock up your medication. You don’t want anyone taking your prescription drugs knowingly or unknowingly.
If someone is struggling with opioid use disorder and is at risk of an overdose, be proactive and have the opioid antidote naloxone available in case of emergency. In Texas, naloxone is available at most pharmacies under a standing order from a physician.
Throughout the year, TMA and TPS physicians have been raising awareness about the dangers of illegally manufactured fentanyl. In September, Dr. Schade testified before the Texas House Committee on Public Health presenting new legislative solutions to address the problem. Among other recommendations, TMA and TPS advocated for relaxing opioid prescribing guidelines so patients with chronic pain get the help they need and don’t turn to street drugs, making naloxone available over the counter, and legalizing fentanyl testing strips so someone could test whether a pill has IMF in it.
“Whether someone unwittingly took a bad pill for recreational use, or to sleep better, or because they feel depressed, or for whatever reason, it’s simply a bad decision to take something off the streets or not prescribed to you,” Dr. Schade said. “The result could be tragic anytime, but even worse during the holidays.”
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 56,000 physicians and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.
TPS is a 501c6 nonprofit organization that represents over 350 pain specialists in Texas. It is the largest state pain society in the nation.
December 9, 2022 – (Tarrant County) – Tarrant County Public Health hosts numerous pop-up COVID-19 clinics across Tarrant County each week in partnership with public and private organizations listed below. Each site has the Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines. Infants six months and older are eligible for the vaccination. Parents need to bring proof of the child’s age and their own ID for the vaccination. Booster vaccinations are available at all of the vaccination locations.
TCPH would like to bring a COVID-19 vaccination clinic to businesses, churches, and organizations in the community that are interested in hosting a pop-up clinic. It’s easy and free to host a clinic.
In addition to the vaccination opportunities below, the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Hurst, and Tarrant County College have also added opportunities for vaccinations. To find a local vaccine site, the County created a vaccine finder page: VaxUpTC website.
Pop-Up COVID-19 locations:
FWISD-Eastern Hills High School Saturday, Dec. 10: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5701 Shelton Street. Fort Worth, TX 76112
R.D. Evans Community Center Tuesday, Dec. 13: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. 3242 Lackland Rd. Fort Worth, TX 76116
Federacion Zacatecana Wednesday, Dec. 14: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 4323 East Lancaster Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76103
Patriot Pointe Apartments Friday, Dec. 16: 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. 2151 Southeast Loop 820 Fort Worth, TX 76119
Tarrant County Public Health CIinics:
Northwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3800 Adam Grubb Road Lake Worth, TX 76135
Bagsby-Williams Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3212 Miller Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76119
Southeast Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 536 W Randol Mill Arlington TX, 76011
Main Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 1101 S. Main Street Fort Worth, TX 76104
Southwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6551 Granbury Road Fort Worth, TX 76133
Watauga Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6601 Watauga Road Watauga, TX 76148
For more information go to coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health information line, 817-248-6299, Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
December 1, 2022 – (Tarrant County) – Tarrant County Public Health hosts numerous pop-up COVID-19 clinics across Tarrant County each week in partnership with public and private organizations listed below. Each site has the Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines. Infants six months and older are eligible for the vaccination. Parents need to bring proof of the child’s age and their own ID for the vaccination. Booster vaccinations are available at all of the vaccination locations.
TCPH would like to bring a COVID-19 vaccination clinic to businesses, churches, and organizations in the community that is interested in hosting a pop-up clinic. It’s easy and free to host a clinic.
In addition to the vaccination opportunities below, the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Hurst, and Tarrant County College have also added opportunities for vaccinations. To find a local vaccine site, the County created a vaccine finder page: VaxUpTC website.
Pop-Up COVID-19 locations:
Mount Olive Baptist Church Saturday, Dec. 3: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 301 Sanford St. Arlington, TX 76012
Como Community Center Tuesday, Dec. 6: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 4660 Horne Street. Fort Worth, TX 76107
Diamond Hill Community Center Tuesday, Dec. 6: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1701 Northeast 26th St. Fort Worth, TX 76106
Chisholm Trail Community Center Saturday, Dec. 6: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. 4936 McPherson Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76123
Haltom City Senior Center Wednesday, Dec. 7: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 3201 Friendly Ln. Haltom City, TX 76117
Highland Hills Community Center Thursday, Dec. 8: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 1600 Glasgow Rd. Fort Worth, TX 76134
Polytechnic Community Center Friday, Dec. 9: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 3100 Avenue I Fort Worth, TX 76105
Tarrant County Public Health CIinics:
Northwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3800 Adam Grubb Road Lake Worth, TX 76135
Bagsby-Williams Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 3212 Miller Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76119
Southeast Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 536 W Randol Mill Arlington TX, 76011
Main Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 1101 S. Main Street Fort Worth, TX 76104
Southwest Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6551 Granbury Road Fort Worth, TX 76133
Watauga Public Health Center Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. 6601 Watauga Road Watauga, TX 76148
For more information go to coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health information line, 817-248-6299, Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Data from Tarrant County Public Heath’s (TCPH) report of COVID-19 activity in Tarrant County, updated Thursday, February 25, 2021.Find more COVID-19 information from TCPH here.
*These data are provisional and are subject to change at any time.
Deaths and recovered cases are included in total COVID-19 positive cases.
Data from Tarrant County Public Heath’s (TCPH) report of COVID-19 activity in Tarrant County, updated Thursday, January 28, 2021.Find more COVID-19 information from TCPH here.
*These data are provisional and are subject to change at any time.
Deaths and recovered cases are included in total COVID-19 positive cases.
This piece was originally published in the January/February issue of the Tarrant County Physician. You can read find the full magazine here.
How we communicate with patients has changed a lot over the years. Millennia ago, having little to offer by way of effective medical intervention, healers relied on therapeutic relationships. What healing occurred was largely due to the relationship itself. Priests, shamans, witch doctors, medicine men, and the like were important threads in the social fabric of their communities. Caring for both spiritual and physical needs, they functioned in roles that we recognize today as clergy and physician.
In the second millennia, and especially after the Enlightenment, these twin traditions of healing began to unwind. As scientific knowledge in general, and medical knowledge in particular, became increasingly robust, the role of the physical healer became distinct from that of the spiritual healer.
“The Doctor” by Luke Fildes (1891)
While the physician’s library of remedial options increased, it remained limited until the 20th century. Instead, relationships and trust continued to be the bedrock of the therapeutic encounter. “Being there”—itself a form of communication—was as important as the intervention. A beautiful illustration of this is Luke Fildes’ 1891 painting, “The Doctor,” depicting a physician sitting at the bedside of an ill child, the concerned parents in the peripheral shadows. The physician appears to be doing nothing but sitting there looking concerned, but that’s the point. “Being there” is doing something and speaks volumes to the parents who simply want to know that someone cares enough to exercise everything in their power, limited as it may be, to effect a cure.
With the Information Age came a breakneck pace of scientific innovation. In 1900 the definitive textbook of internal medicine was Osler’s The Principles and Practice of Medicine. It had one author: Sir William Osler. But by the 1950s the expansion of medical knowledge required that the definitive textbook—the first edition of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine (1951)—had 53 authors.1 The era of specialization had arrived.
Along with it came a gradual dissolution of the longitudinal and relational nature of patient-physician encounters. Increased specialization meant we could do more to effect a cure, but the more we could do, the more distant physicians became from their patients.
I trace the origin of this—because it works as a metaphor on multiple levels—to French physician René Laennec’s invention of the stethoscope in 1816. One day he observed schoolchildren scratching the end of a hollow stick to hear the amplified sound at the other end. He applied this acoustic principle to solve a problem he was facing regarding the examination of a patient. As Laennec put it, he had been
“consulted by a young woman laboring under general symptoms of diseased heart, and in whose case percussion and the application of the hand were of little avail on account of the great degree of fatness”2
Given her age (young) and gender (female), direct auscultation was not an acceptable option anyway, so recalling the children’s game he rolled up a piece of paper and listened to her heart. The stethoscope was born, a technological innovation had occurred, and the physician took the first step away from the patient.
As medical specialization grew so did that distance. Now we don’t even need to be on the same continent. Physicians, as masters of applied science, assumed the role of the expert who diagnosed a condition and recommended a course of action to a patient. The patient then largely deferred to the physician’s judgment and expertise, reinforcing the benevolent paternalism that had been implicit in patient-physician encounters for generations, only now it had a name.
Popular culture was replete with examples of benevolent paternalism, perhaps best embodied by actor Robert Young who played the lead role in both Father Knows Best (1954-1960) and Marcus Welby, MD (1969-1976). His character was similar in both series. He was the trusted expert, and those in his charge did what he told them to do.
Or did they? Patients actually doing what they are advised to do is every bit as important as the advice itself. We came to realize what the priests, shamans, witch doctors, and medicine men knew millennia ago: personal relationships built on a foundation of trust and effective communication are important. If the primary endpoint is healing the patient, we must be able to communicate the pathway that gets them there, which means we must understand and help them navigate around the roadblocks they will encounter along the way. These could be social, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, racial, intellectual, and/or economic, to name a few. Dr. Welby may have arrived at the correct diagnosis and recommended an appropriate evidence-based course of treatment, but what good is that if the patient won’t—or can’t—follow through with it?
Twenty-five years ago, the correlation between effective physician-patient communication and improved health outcomes was already obvious.3 The body of evidence has only grown, demonstrating that providers who are good communicators obtain more complete information, arrive at more accurate diagnoses, and facilitate more appropriate counseling, all of which increase the likelihood that patients will adhere to the plan.4 And if that doesn’t get our attention, good communication has also been shown to reduce the likelihood of a lawsuit.5
Locally, the importance of effective communication has been underscored by the creation of a dean level position at the UNTHSC-TCU School of Medicine, the highest position ever dedicated to this important aspect of patient health at an American medical school. We should be proud that this occurred in our county, but it’s just a beginning. There are many layers to this onion, and it will take more than an emphasis at a medical school to peel it. For those of us who are already in practice—many for decades—we are learning to communicate in new ways. A year ago, telemedicine consults were not on my radar at all. Now I have several every day. These newer forms of communication and patient interaction, coupled with a better understanding of what effective communication actually is, introduce additional challenges to the patient-provider relationship.
Recognizing the timeliness and rapid evolution of this topic, Healthcare in a Civil Society, the annual CME hosted by TCMS’s Ethics Consortium, will dedicate its 2021 symposium to effective patient communication. As the era of shared decision-making has moved forward, so has our need to communicate with our patients in meaningful and relevant ways. This program will explore how communication between providers and their patients has changed, and the ethical implications this change has had in a variety of areas.
AMA President, Dr. Sue Bailey, will keynote this Zoom event which has been generously supported by UNTHSC and the Cook Children’s Medical Center Foundation. The Hon. Pete Geren will moderate an expert panel who will address topics such as:
Shared Decision-Making – How can we know that a medical decision is truly “shared” and the consent obtained truly “informed”?
Truth-Telling and Apology – How do we communicate with patients about difficult topics, especially when something goes wrong, or we make a mistake that results in patient harm?
High-Stress Conversations – How does our communication with patients change when providers are in a high-stress situation, and how can providers self-regulate and/or de-escalate a contentious conversation?
Patient Communication (in general) – What can we all do that will engage patients and foster relationships in which information can be shared in a meaningful way?
The event includes a breakout session to allow participants to explore the topic more deeply in small groups.
Effective patient communication has come a long way in recent years, but we have a long way still to go. All are welcome to join us for this informative and interactive session. You can view a flyer with registration information here.
Sir William Osler (1849-1919)
References 1The exponential growth of medical knowledge can be illustrated by tracking the number of authors for the definitive textbooks. As noted, by 1951 Harrison’s Principle of Internal Medicine had 53 authors. By the time I was in medical school it had 273 authors. Today it has over 600. Plot it on a curve. It’s exponential.
2From René Laennec’s De l’Auscultation Médiate, quoted in Laënnec and the Stethoscope. JAMA. 2019;322(5):472. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.15451
Stewart MA. Effective Physician-patient Communication and Health Outcomes: A Review. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1995; 152(9):1423-1433.
3Effective patient–physician communication. Committee Opinion No. 587. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Obstet Gynecol 2014;123:389–93.
4Virshup BB, Oppenberg AA, Coleman MM. Strategic Risk Management: Reducing Malpractice Claims Through More Effective Patient-Doctor Communication. American Journal of Medical Quality. 1999;14(4):153-159.
Below is the current information about Tarrant County’s COVID-19 Infusion Centers. You can find a more readable version of the information sheet with functioning links here.
You can find the Infusion Centers Referral Form here.
Key points to remember:
There are currently two (2) Infusion Center sites in Tarrant County
Patients must be referred by a physician, an NP, or a PA
Walk-in appointments are not available
There is not cost to the patient for treatment
If you have referral questions, call (855) 478-1528.