The Brazos Valley Community Action Agency Inc. recognized College Station Medical Center on Thursday for its contribution to the agency's community health center.

The Med received the agency's top honor, the Community Action Partner of the Year Award, at a luncheon at Briarcrest Country Club.

"The College Station Community Health Center would not have come about had it not been for the College Station Medical Center," said Eric Todd, the agency's senior administrator for health services.

The Med plugged two years' worth of operating expenses into the clinic -- seed money that allowed the BVCAA to attract other funding, Todd said.

The health center, which opened in November at 1651 Rock Prairie Road, provides obstetrics, gynecology and pediatric care to local women and children. Physicians have seen 1,036 patients at the clinic and handled 2,441 visits since it opened, according to the BVCAA.

The clinic is one of six regional centers operated by the Community Health Center Network to serve individuals with and without insurance or Medicaid.

When it opened last year, officials at the National Association of Community Health Centers said it was the first time a for-profit hospital had teamed with a grant-funded nonprofit clinic to serve low-income patients, according to Todd.

Tom Jackson, chief executive of The Med, said the center was the result of a collaboration among The Med, the BVCAA and several local physicians.

"I hope people will try to duplicate this in other communities, finding a collaborative way to help women, children and the uninsured," Jackson said.

Todd said Jackson's involvement is a key aspect of the clinic's success.

"That he was able to convince his corporation this was a viable business plan as well as good community service attests to his vision and leadership," he said.

The BVCAA at its annual meeting also presented service awards to 21 staff members who have been employed with the agency for between five and 30 years, a Lifetime Service Award to Texas A&M University educational psychology professor Michael Ash and the Employee of the Year Award to Darla Patterson, the BVCAA's associate administrator for fiscal services.

Karen Gerber, BVCAA executive director, said Patterson has contributed substantially to the agency's growth and development over the years and has been largely responsible for the continued operations of the agency through changes in chief financial officers.

Mary Kay Smith, program director of BVCAA Head Start, said Ash, who serves as the mental health consultant for BVCAA Head Start, has been instrumental in the development of the agency since its inception in 1967.

Ash has assisted the Head Start program through many years of program development and educational initiatives, providing a university collaboration with Head Start, Smith said.

• Holli L. Estridge's e-mail address is holli.estridge@the

eagle.com.

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