Management and Performance Review of County Government ...

Health & Welfare/Library/Veterans Services of Jefferson County
The biggest difference between the two units for the health division is their
workload, as Exhibits 5-4 shows. The patient load at the clinics seems affected by the
local economies of Beaumont and Port Arthur. About 90 percent of Unit 2’s patients in
2004 were classified as IHC; at Unit 1 in Beaumont, more than a third of the patients
were PHC.
More than twice as many IHC patients saw a doctor at Unit 2 than at Unit 1 in
2002. While the number of IHC patients seen at Unit 2 has remained roughly steady, at
around 3,600 a year, Unit 1’s IHC caseload rose from about 1,600 to more than 2,000
between 2002 and 2004.
Similarly, Unit 1’s PHC caseload rose from about 1,000 in 2002 to almost 1,300 in
2004; Unit 2’s caseload again remained more or less steady, at around 300 patients per
year.
Both units’ nurses handle tests, x-ray and lab requests for their patients and obtain
referrals to UTMB and other providers. Both units provide one-on-one patient education
on health management for conditions such as diabetes and hypertension; such visits
average about 16 per day at each unit.
The doctor who serves both units saw an average of 11 patients a day at Unit 1
over the 2002-2004 period and an average of 15 per day at Unit 2. On the other hand,
the number of tests requested and the number of referrals arranged by the nurses has
steadily increased to about six per day at each unit.
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