Nearly 1 million Harris County residents lack health insurance. On Monday, August 3, Harris County Public Health and the Houston Health Department launched a free online tool to help those residents, including families in unincorporated Spring, find affordable clinics without bouncing between agency websites.
The Low-Cost Clinic Finder pulls services from four agencies into one searchable map: Harris County Public Health, the Houston Health Department, Harris Health System, and The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD. Residents can search for immunizations, dental care, mental health services, and WIC nutrition programs, according to My Neighborhood News, which first reported the launch.
Because Spring is unincorporated, Harris County Public Health is the local public health authority here, not a city health department. The tool and a companion 2026 Access to Care Report apply directly to Spring-area households.
What the report found
The 2026 Access to Care Report, co-developed by HCPH and the Houston Health Department, documents persistent gaps in coverage. About 21% of county residents have no health insurance, and about one in six live in poverty. Those rates have held steady for a decade, from 2014 through 2024, according to the report.
Young adults ages 15 to 34 face uninsured rates above 30%. Hispanic residents carry the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group at 33%.
The report organizes barriers into three categories: Affording Care, Finding Care, and Receiving Care. Cost ranked as the most common reason residents delayed or skipped treatment, according to the 2024 HCPH Community Health Survey cited in the report. Transportation, limited internet access, language barriers, and cultural mistrust also block people from getting help.
"Too often, it's too hard for community members to get the healthcare they need," Harris County Public Health Executive Director Leah Barton said in a statement accompanying the launch. "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."
What the clinic finder covers
The tool currently lists services from the four partner agencies. Available through HCPH locations: childhood and adult immunizations via the Texas Vaccines for Children and Adult Safety Net programs, free or low-cost dental care for children and adolescents at the Humble and Southeast clinics, adult dental in Baytown, WIC nutrition services, and chronic disease prevention.
Mental health connections run through The Harris Center. The county also operates ACCESS Harris County, a coordinated-care program linking residents to physical and mental health services, housing, financial assistance, and substance-use support.
Future updates will add Federally Qualified Health Centers, which commonly serve uninsured and underinsured patients. No timeline was given.
Free webinar Tuesday, August 11
A free public webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, August 11, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Staff will walk through the report's findings and give a live demonstration of the clinic finder. Registration is open to the public through the Harris County Public Health website at publichealth.harriscountytx.gov.
Dr. Theresa Tran, director of the Houston Health Department, said in a joint statement that the collaboration reflects what happens when agencies coordinate rather than operate in silos. The report includes shared commitments from all four partner organizations to improve how residents move between medical care, behavioral health, and other support services.
Residents can access the clinic finder and the full report through the Reports and Dashboards section at publichealth.harriscountytx.gov.
