Sec. 136.001.  PURPOSE.  The legislature finds that:
(1)  community health centers play a significant role in the delivery of medical care and related services to the residents of this state who cannot afford health insurance;
(2)  community health centers are a cost-effective way to provide primary and preventive health care to populations lacking quality health care by reducing hospitalizations and the inappropriate use of emergency rooms;
(3)  the financing sources available for the capital needs of community health centers, such as buildings and equipment, are inadequate;  and
(4)  increasing community health centers' access to capital would benefit residents of this state in poor and underserved communities and foreign-born residents who are uninsured, by providing greater access to primary care and preventive health services and by targeting the common health problems of these residents.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 878, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.