Months after approving a contract for a citywide telehealth service, Garland has canceled its agreement after outcry from residents.
Garland announced Tuesday it has ended a program with Dallas-based MD Health Pathways that would have automatically enrolled residents in its Tap Telehealth service for a $6 fee added to their utility bill.
The program, first announced in August, was still in the pilot phase and would have gone into effect this spring or summer.
“Telehealth can certainly play into the future of health care at Garland, but this program as it was, just wasn't the right fit at the right time for us,” Garland Mayor Dylan Hedrick told KERA.
Some community members had raised concerns recently that they would have to opt out of the program if they didn’t want to participate.
Garland resident Sumer Wassef, who spoke out at the last council meeting, told KERA she was concerned about vulnerable populations not being aware of the opt-out option.
“Those vulnerable populations are more like the elderly that may not have, you know, access to electronic communication methods to opt out or learn more,” Wassef said.
During an executive session Monday, Hedrick said he and council members authorized the city manager to cancel the contract.
"The city manager at any time has authority, given the council direction to cancel that contract, and that's what he exercised,” Hedrick said.
The city had called a special election for May 2 to ask voters to indicate whether they support a city-wide telehealth program at all. Hedrick said now that the contract has been canceled, “the election is likely moot for now.”
Tuesday night the Garland city council voted unanimously to cancel the special election, "prior to the program's launch and without penalty."
Supporters of the telehealth program have said it’s needed to close a health care access gap in Garland. The city has been without a hospital since early 2018, when Baylor Scott and White closed due to financial losses.
Dirk Perritt, CEO of MD Health Pathways, said the company will "continue providing care to every enrolled household through the remainder of flu season at no cost while the city finds an alternative."
"Ten thousand families in Garland, the largest city in America without a hospital, had access to a physician they could reach by text, in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese," he told KERA in a text. "More than half had no health insurance. For many, it was the first time they ever had a doctor."
MD Health Pathways provides telehealth service in a handful of other North Texas cities including Crandall, Ferris, Mabank and Henderson.
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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