University Health approved $2.2 million to expand healthcare for the city’s homeless population at CentroMed’s Sarah E. Davidson Clinic at Haven for Hope.
The funding was approved by University Health’s Board of Managers on Tuesday.
CentroMed is a federally qualified health center providing primary care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. CentroMed provides care at 22 clinics across San Antonio.
CentroMed also provides care directly to the homeless population through its Healthcare for the Homeless program. This includes the Sarah E. Davidson Clinic at Haven for Hope, as well as at the Lifetime Recovery Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Southeast San Antonio and the Battered Women’s and Children’s Shelter in Northeast San Antonio.
The University Health funding will help CentroMed expand its staff, hours and homeless outreach efforts at its Sarah E. Davidson Clinic, which was hit by a data breach in 2024 that disrupted services and patient volume.
The clinic served over 10,000 patients in 2023, and it’s expected to serve 2,000 fewer in 2026. The funding is aimed at helping bring patient volumes back to their previous level, ultimately helping improve health outcomes, avoid emergency room visits and address untreated behavioral health and substance abuse issues in the homeless population, University Health officials said.
The clinic provides basic medical care and screens patients for depression, diabetes, substance use, tobacco use and infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV.
“This clinic has experienced … strong demand for services because of the needs in general in the community in that area, but they’ve seen a reduction in their ability to meet that demand over the past couple of years,” said Ted Day, executive vice president of strategic planning and business development at University Health. “So we’re proposing to provide some additional funding to help them build back their staffing to see more patients in that clinic.”
The funding will allow CentroMed to hire a physician, part-time nurse practitioner, substance use counselors, medical assistants and outreach workers.
The $2.2 million will be distributed over two years, with a start date of March 1.
