Harris Health is seeking support from Black voters for their $2.5 billion bond proposal which they hope gets passed during the upcoming November election. Recognizing the power and importance of the Black vote, Harris Health officials met with 35 Black pastors, including Dr. James Dixon, pastor of the Community of Faith Church and president of the NAACP Houston Branch.
Following that meeting, at the behest of the NAACP, a coalition of individuals and organization reps, under the banner of the LBJ Community Leaders Coalition, met to discuss potential benefits and concerns they have regarding the $2.5 billion bond proposal. The group also began formulating a list of demands for services rendered to the Black community in order to receive their endorsement.
The Defender spoke with Dixon about those concerns and demands.
DEFENDER: Can you break down the Harris Health $2.5 billion bond proposal?
DIXON: Harris Health is proposing a bond proposal for this November election to the tune of $2.5 billion. On top of that, they intend to also raise another $300,000 or so dollars. This is close to a $3 billion project. The use of funds includes $1.5 billion for the hospital itself which will be newly built, constructed in connection to the existing LBJ Hospital on Kelly in Northeast Houston. They’re also planning to do some other things around the county as relates to other Harris County Health Clinics to provide better services to underserved communities and other communities around the county.
DEFENDER: Has Harris Health reached out to the NAACP to have a conversation?
DIXON: I’ve been in communication with Harris Health as a pastor and as one of the leaders in that area, along with other pastors. We assembled about 35 pastors who met with Harris Health a couple of weeks ago to hear their proposal and for them to hear our concerns. In addition to that, the NAACP hosted what we call our LBJ Community Leaders Coalition which consists of about 25 different leaders from different organizations and pastors, as well, to talk about what our deeper concerns are with this bond issue and what our expectations need to be concerning a new LBJ hospital, including healthcare services, medical services and a number of things that we believe are essential to talk about as it relates to a $2.5 billion bond issue.
“I’m very excited at the unified and collective potency that this LBJ Community Leaders Coalition encompasses. You’re speaking of the Urban League, Justin Robinson III. You’re talking about 100 Black Men. And the list is long; Minister Robert Muhammad of Mosque 45; a plethora of leaders around the table coalescing, talking about how we use our collective leverage to make sure that the community’s interests are highly regarded, respected and adhered to.”
DEFENDER: What were the proposal’s positives?
DIXON: I have to commend Dr. Esmaeil Porsa with Harris Health, and his team. When they met with the Black pastors, they gave us a thorough overview of things that they’re already planning to do. That includes their concerns about MWBE participation on the contracting side of this project, as well as their concerns about healthcare disparities in our community. They are proposing to add another 400 beds to what the present hospital provides at this time. They also understand, according to their data and national data, that healthcare disparities are enormous in the African-American community. Mental health, maternal health disparities. Disparities with hypertension and cancer. In fact, in that community of Northeast Houston, it is tragically true that life expectancy is 20 years less than Anglo counterparts. We die 20 years younger on average in that part of Houston. A lot of that is connected to the fact that it’s near the refineries, and air quality issues exist there. So, we’re dealing with some very dismal and very concerning numbers. This hospital has the opportunity, if done correctly, to help address these generationally existing health disparities.
“This hospital has the opportunity, if done correctly, to help address these generationally existing health disparities.”
DEFENDER: What are the concerns with the proposal, and demands for services to the Black community?
DIXON: This is a serious issue. So, we are really digging down deep to make sure that what Harris Health is proposing is not just window-dressing, marketing and branding, but there are actually structural plans in place in several areas. One, we’ve got to have healthcare disparities addressed, not just in the way of treatment, but in the way of prevention. How do we get ahead of these issues and begin to prevent them? That’s something that we weigh in heavily on. And they at this point have said they understand the need. But I can tell you, we will continue to pound that issue home. We need education on nutrition, on preventative healthcare. Because in underserved communities, preventative healthcare is almost nonexistent. We said to them, we need a space in this facility where people who cannot afford a membership to gyms and fitness programs, get to come to this county facility and workout, learn about nutrition, high blood pressure, dieting, how to prepare meals, things that are preventative as it relates to healthcare disparities. We want Harris Health to help to create curriculum for schools and for churches to be able to teach and disseminate information where people gather already on a regular basis.
“In that community of Northeast Houston, it is tragically true that life expectancy is 20 years less than Anglo counterparts. We die 20 years younger on average in that part of Houston.”
The idea of maternal health. We know that the maternal death rate for African-American mothers is twice, if not three times higher than their white counterparts. This is a serious issue. So, maternal health is high on the list as it relates to what we are challenging Harris Health to make sure it is addressed.
And of course, mental health is a major issue. Prior to COVID, we already had major issues from stress and anxiety. Poverty itself is stressful. Resource deficiency is highly stressful. When you add to that you’re sick, lack of funds, lack of resources, lack of access, lack of hope, it adds to stress and anxiety. Suicides are up in our community, especially among our young people… The issue of trauma from a mental health perspective; Northeast Houston and other underserved communities, have high rates of human trafficking. My God, we’ve got youth and young people being trafficked. Where do they go for help? Who knows what they’ve gone through? Who understands that the reason they’re acting out in school, the reason they’re suicidal, the reason they’re doing drugs is because they’re dealing with the trauma for having been sexually exploited. So, all of these issues are being discussed with Harris Health from a medical and healthcare perspective, and treating this kind of trauma in our community.
“This is $2.5 billion, nearly $3 billion countywide. We refuse to support a bond issue that is not guaranteed to produce equitable participation for Black and minority contractors.”
DEFENDER: Any other concerns and demands?
DIXON: Beyond the health and medical care, this is $2.5 billion, nearly $3 billion countywide. We refuse to support a bond issue that is not guaranteed to produce equitable participation for Black and minority contractors. We’ve gotta resource underserved communities. And you do that by supporting businesses that are connected to those communities. If we don’t begin to use public dollars in a way that’s more responsible and equitable, we’ll continue to see poverty generationally. We wanna see local minority-owned businesses participating at significant levels from start to finish in construction, operations as well as in business opportunities (goods and services). This project will potentially become an economic boom to the area and to our community. What we don’t wanna see is a $2.5 billion project built and erected in our community, operating into the hundreds of millions a year, and it exists there, but all the money leaves the community and goes to resource other parts of town. And I can tell you we’ve got enough eyes and ears and intelligence in this conversation that unless the business is right, the politics are gonna be wrong. We’re not going to support it if it does not meet the smell test of proper opportunities for participation.
This bond proposal has to first be approved by Harris County Commissioner’s Court. That will happen in mid to late August. We’re preparing to respond to Harris County Commissioner’s Court, either positively or negatively. We’re expecting that Harris Health will present to us a document with terms for agreement that we’ll be able to document and officially say Harris Health has committed to these things for health, medical services, human services, but also for economic and business opportunity.
Churches need to be involved. Churches are large landowners in these communities. We’ve gotta talk about how churches benefit because they’re the anchor of our communities. What we don’t wanna look up and see is, five-to-seven years from now, after this hospital gets built, the entire neighborhood around doesn’t look like Kashmere Gardens, Trinity Gardens, Houston Garden, Settegast, Pleasantville, and Fifth Ward. We’ve gotta make sure that we maintain the historic integrity of our communities. And you cannot do that unless we get the right agreements with Harris Health on the front end.
DEFENDER: How can the public learn more?
DIXON: The LBJ Community Leaders Coalition is hosting and convening, a community forum on Monday, July 24 at 6p.m. at the Community of Faith Church, 1024 Pinemont Dr., Houston, 77091. We’re inviting concerned citizens, faith leaders, elected officials, social justice leaders, professional organizations, please attend. Announce this to all of the Divine Nine, to every business and professional organization. Come and be a part of this robust conversation.
