City, county launch healthcare tool
Finding affordable healthcare in the Houston area is now easier thanks to a new online tool jointly launched by Harris County Public Health and the Houston Health Department.
The agencies have released an interactive low-cost Clinic Finder Tool, designed to help Harris County residents locate affordable healthcare services and better navigate the region’s public health system.
Also released by the agencies was the 2026 Access to Care Report.
Officials say the resources are intended to address a common challenge for many families: knowing where to go for care, understanding eligibility requirements and finding providers that fit their needs.
“Too often, it’s too hard for community members to get the healthcare they need,” said Harris County Public Health Executive Director Leah Barton. “By understanding the barriers people face, making commitments to address those barriers, and releasing this practical, easy-to-use clinic finder, we’re putting essential health services within reach.”
Clinic Finder Tool
The new Clinic Finder Tool allows users to search for affordable healthcare services offered through the following sources:
– Harris County Public Health
– Houston Health Department
– Harris Health System
– Harris Center for Mental Health
Instead of visiting multiple websites or calling several agencies, residents can use the centralized tool to find clinics that meet their healthcare needs.
Officials say future updates will include additional community providers, including Federally Qualified Health Centers that serve uninsured and underinsured patients.
“Access to healthcare should never depend on someone’s ability to navigate a complicated system,” said Houston Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Tran. “This report and the low-cost Clinic Finder Tool reflect what is possible when healthcare and public health organizations work together to remove barriers.”
Harris County Public Health provides a wide range of free and low-cost services, including the following:
– Childhood and adult vaccinations
– Dental care at select clinics
– Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition services
– Chronic disease prevention programs
– Community health outreach
– Environmental health services
– Mosquito control
– Care coordination through ACCESS Harris County
The department also helps connect eligible residents with mental health services, housing assistance and other community resources.
City Council passes new A/C mandate
Houston City Council on Wednesday, Aug. 19, approved a new ordinance requiring landlords to provide air conditioning in all rental units – a move city leaders say is necessary to protect residents during increasingly dangerous summer heat.
Mayor John Whitmire said the measure reflects the city’s responsibility to ensure safe living conditions.
“We’re seeing record heat year after year, and people deserve safe living conditions,” Whitmire said. “This ordinance is about protecting lives.”
The vote followed weeks of discussion about tenant safety, housing conditions and the rising number of heat‑related emergencies reported across the region.
But the measure was not unanimously supported, and some officials raised concerns about how the new requirement will affect low‑income tenants.
Council Member Twila Carter, At‑Large Position 3, voted against the ordinance, saying her position comes from lived experience with housing insecurity and the financial strain utility bills can place on families.
“This particular topic is very personal to me,” Carter said, noting that while she supports the goal of ensuring residents have access to cooling, the ordinance could unintentionally raise costs for the very people it aims to protect. “Policies designed to help working families shouldn’t unintentionally make housing less affordable.”
Background
Supporters say the measure closes a long‑criticized loophole in Houston’s housing code: previously, landlords were required only to provide heating, not cooling, even during prolonged stretches of triple‑digit temperatures. Tenant advocates have argued for years that the absence of any cooling requirement left renters in older or poorly maintained units vulnerable to heat‑related illness, especially seniors, medically fragile residents and families living in buildings with failing or nonexistent air conditioning systems.
Under the new ordinance, landlords must install air conditioning capable of keeping units at or below 80 degrees.
Supporters say the ordinance is a necessary step toward preventing heat‑related illnesses and deaths, pointing to record-breaking temperatures over the past three summers and a rise in heat‑related emergency calls.
City officials said the requirement brings Houston in line with other major Texas cities that already mandate cooling.
Concerns
Opponents, including Carter, say the ordinance amounts to an unfunded mandate that will ultimately be passed on to tenants through higher rents or fees. They also note that many low‑income families already struggle with electricity bills, meaning simply having an air conditioner does not guarantee they can afford to run it.
Carter said the city should confront the real‑world financial impact on vulnerable residents.
“Before we celebrate what looks good on paper, let’s make sure that we confront the cost in real life,” said Carter.
What comes next
The city is expected to release guidance for landlords and tenants in the coming weeks, including timelines for compliance and information on how complaints will be handled.
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