Care, Collaboration and Community: Celebrating One Year of the Las Vegas Trail Neighborhood Health Center

One year ago, a bold partnership set out to transform health and wellness in Fort Worth's Las Vegas Trail neighborhood. Today, the results speak for themselves.

Since opening its doors on Aug. 5 2025 to July 2026, the Neighborhood Health Center serving the Las Vegas Trail area has welcomed more than 18,000 patient visits between JPS Health Network and Cook Chidren’s. The center connected thousands more community members with behavioral health visits, nutritious food, workforce training and community resources. In an achievement that cannot be conveyed by numbers alone, the center has also become a gathering place for residents and partners alike.

Partners in Purpose

The center is a first-of-its-kind partnership among JPS Health Network, Cook Children’s Health Care System, the City of Fort Worth and WestAid. More than just a clinic, it serves as a community hub, dedicated to improving health, strengthening family foundations, and providing financial stability.

At the core of the center’s mission is providing health care to people of all ages in the Las Vegas Trail area. The partnership between JPS Health Network and Cook Children’s gives every generation of the household access to access to a medical home with adult and pediatric primary care services. Cook Children’s welcomed nearly 1,500 new patients into our health care network, providing close-to-home pediatric care for the area.

“This partnership was born of our shared vision with Cook Children’s to deliver health care for the whole family that would create a transformational impact in a community with critical health care needs,” said Joy Parker, senior vice president of operations at JPS Health Network, in July of last year.

The clinic took over one year to plan and 18 months for construction.

“We knew the community needed our joint services and we were dedicated to getting it right,” said Chris Pedigo, senior vice president and chief strategy, education and community health officer at Cook Children’s.

The center’s comprehensive approach to health also includes behavioral health and social services. Since the neighborhood health center opened, Cook Children’s has referred 624 patients for behavioral health services and 379 patients for additional social services and community resource needs.

A key piece of the neighborhood center’s mission is community engagement through partnerships. The center provides a variety of programs designed for, and by, the people of Fort Worth. For example, the center partners with Tarrant County College to offer workforce development programming. From September 2025 to July 2026, 25 people enrolled in the program, where they were empowered with the skills, confidence, and professional support needed to begin a rewarding career supporting the health care industry in non-clinical roles.

The center’s partnership with the WestAid pantry helps provide nutritious food, education and support for families facing food insecurity. When construction of the neighborhood health center started, the pantry section of the building was specifically built to fit WestAid’s capacity and vision. The result is an intuitive space where people can easily shop for their groceries. From October 2025 through July 2026, the pantry provided nearly 13,363 shopping trips. Staff also prepared 6,854 sack lunches for people who are unhoused.

When the pantry opened last year, William Pherigo, MRE, then-executive director of West Aid, said the partnership with the neighborhood health center was a natural fit.

“Food is medicine, so it just makes sense with how important food and nutrition are to health that West Aid is located at the center,” Pherigo said. “It just completes the health and wellness circle there.”

The center goes beyond providing food for residents. The Demonstration Kitchen, led by Cook Children’s NHC Dietitian and Nutrition Coordinator Maya Rashad, provides hands-on learning for Las Vegas Trail residents. In its first nine months, the Demonstration Kitchen held 42 cooking classes with 437 attendees. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive: 100% of participants said they learned something new and would recommend it to others.

Nurturing Neighborhoods

About 7,000 Cook Children’s Health Plan members reside in the Las Vegas Trail corridor. When the center opened its doors, Community Health Worker (CHW) Sky Ramos became Cook Children’s first-ever clinic-based CHW. She provides face-to-face support and connects members with resources that help meet their health and social needs. However, Health Plan services are also available to anyone who needs them, including people who need help completing food and health program applications. So far, the neighborhood health center has helped 79 members apply for Medicaid, TANF, SNAP and WIC appointments. The center has participated in 82 events led or hosted by community partners.

Cook Children’s Center for Community Health provided a variety of services and resource for the community at the center, including:

• 584 dental screenings and $32,236 in dental treatment procedures.
• Over 100 summer events
• 60 tours of the Neighborhood Health Center to introduce community partners and families to available services.

“To further support the community, the Center for Community Health (C4CH) coordinated more than 100 educational summer activities during June and July attracting over 200 children and families,” Pedigo said. Topics ranged from tips on feeding your toddler to child yoga classes and education on micro gardening. The C4CH also checked 46 car seats.

“Our dedication to providing outstanding medical care and education to the children and families of Las Vegas Trail is unwavering,” Pedigo said.

Community groups are able to use the center when needed. IDEA Rise, the Fort Worth ISD, Western Hills-area schools and other community organizations have used the space for meetings and events. The Fort Worth police department also uses the space as a place to take breaks without having to leave their designated coverage area. The Fort Worth police department storefront is home to FWPD’s Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, which works to strengthen security in the area’s many apartment communities.

A Hopeful Future

In just one year, the Neighborhood Health Center has become a trusted resource for thousands of children and families in the Las Vegas Trail Neighborhood. What began as a shared vision among community partners its first year has evolved into a thriving hub for health, wellness, education and connection, laying the foundation for an even greater impact in the years ahead.

“LVT has not only brought residents and community partners together, it has also provided a special opportunity for our Cook Children’s colleagues to actively experience our values of collaboration, generosity and imagination,” said Veronica Tolley, vice president of Primary Care and Specialty Services. “In this first year, employees from all areas of our system have poured their time and energy into LVT by participating as volunteers, mentors and supporters in events like gallery night showcasing local student art, community egg hunt, mock interviews for training center, demo kitchen classes, holiday festivities, and countless other events. Thank you to everyone for embracing togetherness and delivering moments of magic to LVT!”