The geography of healthcare.

Mobile women’s health clinics in texas.

What is the need?

Across the 268,597 square miles of Texas, access to women’s healthcare is deeply uneven. Large regions of the state function as “healthcare deserts,” where high- population communities have limited or sometimes no access to nearby clinics providing essential services like contraception, cancer screenings, and preventive care. Many rural Texans face long travel distances, limited transportation options, and months-long wait times.

These barriers make timely, comprehensive healthcare out of reach for many, underscoring the urgent need for solutions that meet people where they are.

That’s where mobile health care units come in.

Why does this matter?

Learn more.

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The impact on women’s health has been especially severe. Nearly half of Texas counties (46.5%) are classified as maternity care deserts, meaning they lack access to birthing facilities or maternity care providers altogether.¹ For thousands of women, even basic pregnancy care requires traveling far from home.

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Barriers to care extend beyond pregnancy. Across Texas, 1.75 million women in need live in contraceptive deserts, where access to affordable birth control is limited or nonexistent. In Texas, 153,040 women live in counties without a single health center offering a full range of birth control methods.² Together, these gaps in maternal and women’s healthcare make timely, comprehensive care out of reach for many.

Where is the need?

Population
This map shows the population of women of reproductive age (15-49) in 2023.³

Providers per 1,000
This map shows the ratio of providers – such as doctors, nurses practitioners, or physician assistants – with at least 10 new birth control prescriptions per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 2023.⁴

The Family Planning Program is a General Revenue-funded, limited-benefit program that serves uninsured men and women across Texas.⁵
Services covered include:
• Birth control
• Cancer screenings
• Chronic disease testing & treatment

Healthy Texas Women (HTW) is a Medicaid waiver, limited-benefit program that provides healthcare and family planning services to women aged 15-44 with low income and no insurance.⁵
Services covered include:
• Birth control
• Cancer screenings
• Chronic disease testing & treatment

{
  const mapId = "test_map";

  const baseLabels = [
    "Population",
    "Total Providers per 1,000 Women 15-49"
  ];

  const overlayLabels = [
    "FPP Providers",
    "HTW Providers"
  ];

  // These must match the className= you set in addLegend()
  const legendClasses = {
    Population: "legend-pop",
    Providers: "legend-perk"
  };

  const sleep = (ms) => new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, ms));

  function getLeafletMap() {
    const sel = `#${mapId}`;
    try {
      const w = globalThis.HTMLWidgets?.find?.(sel);
      if (w?.getMap) return w.getMap();
    } catch (e) {}
    try {
      const w2 = globalThis.HTMLWidgets?.find?.(mapId);
      if (w2?.getMap) return w2.getMap();
    } catch (e) {}
    return null;
  }

  function getLayerControlRoot() {
    const el = document.getElementById(mapId);
    return el ? el.querySelector(".leaflet-control-layers") : null;
  }

  function getTriggersForSection() {
    const mapEl = document.getElementById(mapId);
    if (!mapEl) return [];
    const section = mapEl.closest(".cr-section") || document;
    return Array.from(section.querySelectorAll(".narrative-col .trigger"));
  }

  function activeTriggerIndex() {
    const triggers = getTriggersForSection();
    if (!triggers.length) return 0;

    const vc = window.innerHeight / 2;
    let bestIdx = 0;
    let bestDist = Infinity;

    for (let i = 0; i < triggers.length; i++) {
      const r = triggers[i].getBoundingClientRect();
      const c = (r.top + r.bottom) / 2;
      const d = Math.abs(c - vc);
      if (d < bestDist) {
        bestDist = d;
        bestIdx = i;
      }
    }
    return Math.max(0, Math.min(3, bestIdx));
  }

  async function clickRadioByLabel(label) {
    const control = getLayerControlRoot();
    if (!control) return;

    const all = Array.from(control.querySelectorAll("label"));
    const target = all.find(l => (l.textContent || "").trim() === label);
    if (!target) return;

    const input = target.querySelector("input[type='radio']");
    if (input && !input.checked) input.click();
  }

  async function clickOverlayByLabel(label, checked) {
    const control = getLayerControlRoot();
    if (!control) return;

    const all = Array.from(control.querySelectorAll("label"));
    const target = all.find(l => (l.textContent || "").trim() === label);
    if (!target) return;

    const input = target.querySelector("input[type='checkbox']");
    if (input && input.checked !== checked) input.click();
  }

  async function setOverlays({ fpp = false, htw = false }) {
    const map = getLeafletMap();
    await clickOverlayByLabel(overlayLabels[0], fpp);
    await clickOverlayByLabel(overlayLabels[1], htw);

    if (!map) return;
    try { if (fpp) map.showGroup(overlayLabels[0]); else map.hideGroup(overlayLabels[0]); } catch (e) {}
    try { if (htw) map.showGroup(overlayLabels[1]); else map.hideGroup(overlayLabels[1]); } catch (e) {}
  }

  function showOnlyLegend(which) {
    // which = "Population" or "Providers"
    const pop = document.querySelector(`.${legendClasses.Population}`);
    const per = document.querySelector(`.${legendClasses.Providers}`);

    if (pop) pop.style.display = (which === "Population") ? "" : "none";
    if (per) per.style.display = (which === "Providers") ? "" : "none";
  }

  async function applyStep(step) {
    // 0: Population, overlays off
    // 1: Providers per 1,000, overlays off
    // 2: Providers per 1,000, FPP overlay on
    // 3+: Providers per 1,000, HTW overlay on
    if (step === 0) {
      await clickRadioByLabel(baseLabels[0]);
      showOnlyLegend("Population");
      await setOverlays({ fpp: false, htw: false });
    } else if (step === 1) {
      await clickRadioByLabel(baseLabels[1]);
      showOnlyLegend("Providers");
      await setOverlays({ fpp: false, htw: false });
    } else if (step === 2) {
      await clickRadioByLabel(baseLabels[1]);
      showOnlyLegend("Providers");
      await setOverlays({ fpp: true, htw: false });
    } else {
      await clickRadioByLabel(baseLabels[1]);
      showOnlyLegend("Providers");
      await setOverlays({ fpp: false, htw: true });
    }
  }

  async function install() {
    for (let i = 0; i < 120; i++) {
      if (getLeafletMap() && getLayerControlRoot()) break;
      await sleep(50);
    }

    const key = "__crStepSwitchInstalled";
    if (globalThis[key]) return null;
    globalThis[key] = true;

    let lastStep = -1;
    let ticking = false;

    const update = async () => {
      ticking = false;
      const step = activeTriggerIndex();
      if (step === lastStep) return;
      lastStep = step;
      await applyStep(step);
    };

    const onScroll = () => {
      if (ticking) return;
      ticking = true;
      requestAnimationFrame(update);
    };

    window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll, { passive: true });
    window.addEventListener("resize", onScroll, { passive: true });

    const triggers = getTriggersForSection();
    if (triggers.length) {
      const obs = new MutationObserver(onScroll);
      for (const t of triggers) obs.observe(t, { attributes: true, attributeFilter: ["class", "style"] });
    }

    await update();
    return null;
  }

  await install();
  null
}

What are mobile clinics?

Mobile healthcare units are designed to close gaps by bringing services directly to patients and communities, especially in rural areas. Mobile clinics reduce the distance, time, and cost barriers that prevent many women from accessing care. Mobile clinics set up in trusted community spaces and adapt their routes based on need. They offer a flexible, efficient way to deliver essential women’s health services, such as birth control, cancer screenings, prenatal care, and preventive visits. For women who don’t have reliable access to transportation, mobile clinics can be a literal lifeline. When speaking to patients, they praise the convenience, as they are no longer required to travel hours from home, miss work, school, or childcare. Mobile clinics don’t just expand access; they help ensure care happens earlier, more consistently, and on patients’ terms.

Keep scrolling.

Keep scrolling.

Voices of Patients:
“I got scared after my neighbor died of breast cancer. She came to me one day and showed me her left breast. I told her she needed to go to a doctor, but it was too late. She suffered for a year and died of breast cancer, because she couldn’t find the right medical services. I then decided I needed to find a way to live for my family. When I discovered your clinic and I learned about the services you all provide, I found hope again. I feel that my health is important to my family, because without me, I don’t know how they would be able to take care of themselves.”

Where do they go?

A single mobile health unit can extend care across multiple counties that aren’t served by brick-and-mortar clinics.

This map shows the route¹ for the mobile clinic operated by the South Texas Family Planning & Health Corporation (STFPHC). Their mobile clinic traveled to 196 locations across 18 counties in 2025, reaching many communities with no other health care access.⁶

You can scroll around and zoom in and out.

By 2026, STFPHC had grown to operate a second mobile unit and was approved to serve 29 counties—demonstrating both the success of mobile health services and the increasing demand for accessible care.

Learn more.

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In 2025, they served 2,576 patients⁷ across 15,000 square miles of Texas using its mobile unit.²

Learn more.

On the ground.

Learn more.

Scroll on.

“Now we’re able to do a full clinic, just like a brick-and-mortar clinic, just on wheels.”
— Dr. Perales, DNP, APRN, CNS-BC, Clinic Service Director, STFPHC

What comes next?

During the 89th Legislative Session, the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition and its partners secured $20 million in new state funding to expand mobile women’s health units across Texas, doubling down on a commitment to meet women where they are.

This investment represents $10 million more than the amount secured in 2023, signaling growing legislative recognition of mobile healthcare as a critical solution to access gaps. This funding is the direct result of sustained, collective advocacy and a willingness by providers to find innovative solutions to reach the counties around them.

Methodology

NoteData Notes

Summary

The Mobile Health Unit Data Story Tool was developed by the research department of Healthy Futures of Texas for the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition. The application was built using RStudio (version 2026.01.0+392) and Quarto (version 1.8.25), with the Closeread extension used to structure the narrative interface. Narrative elements were rendered in HTML, and interactive features were implemented using JavaScript⁸.

Data Sources

ACS Fertility Centroids/Boundaries³

Source: Esri Demographics Team Data as of: April 9, 2025 This dataset contains the most recent American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates on fertility in the past 12 months by age of mother. Data are available at tract, county, and state geographic levels.

Prescription Contraception Workforce⁴

Source: Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity, George Washington University (2022) Available at: https://www.gwhwi.org/reproductivehealth.html

This dataset tracks the location, specialty, and distribution of the prescription contraception workforce. It is based on IQVIA prescription claims identifying providers with at least 10 new prescriptions for contraceptive pills, patches, or rings. The data cover approximately 92–94% of U.S. retail prescription claims from 2019–2023.

FPP and HTW Provider Locations⁵

Source: Texas Health and Human Services Commission (2025), Women’s Health Programs Savings and Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2024

This dataset includes enrollment, utilization, and provider-level metrics for the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) and Family Planning Program (FPP). It provides information on patient counts, geographic distribution, contraceptive use (including LARC), and service utilization by procedure code. Supporting documentation details methods for calculating client counts, expenditures, and demographic characteristics.

Mobile Health Unit (MHU) Client Data⁶

Data as of: December 31, 2025

This dataset summarizes 2025 Q1–Q4 mobile health unit visits by county across multiple providers, including Special Health Resources for Texas, Inc.; South Texas Family Planning & Health Corp.; Parkland Health; Gateway Community Health Center; Baylor Scott & White Research Institute; and Barrio Comprehensive Family Health Care. Data were provided directly by participating clinics.

Mobile Stops Audit – South Texas Family Planning⁶

Data as of: December 31, 2025

This dataset documents all mobile unit stops conducted by South Texas Family Planning & Health Corp. during 2025. Provided to Healthy Futures of Texas by South Texas Family Planning & Health Corp. by email.

TIGER/Line Shapefile (Primary and Secondary Roads)⁹

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2019)

This shapefile includes primary and secondary road networks for Texas derived from the TIGER/Line database. The dataset is part of the Census Bureau’s Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) system, which provides a seamless national geographic framework.

Geocoding

All coordinates were generated using the Geocode extension in Google Sheets (Awesome Table).

Media

Video and image credits: Healthy Futures of Texas

NoteReferences

1.

J Fontenot, R Lucas, A Stoneburner, C Brigance, K Hubbard, E Jones, K Mishkin. Where You Live Matters: Maternity Care Deserts and the Crisis of Access and Equity in Texas. March of Dimes; 2023.

2.

Everybody Texas. Contraceptive Access in Texas. Everybody Texas; 2022.

3.

Esri Demographics Team. ACS fertility in past 12 months by age variables: boundaries. Published online 2025.

4.

Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity. Prescription contraception workforce. Published online 2022. https://www.gwhwi.org/reproductivehealth.html

5.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Women’s Health Programs Savings and Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2024 in Texas. Office of Data, Analytics,; Performance; 2025.

6.

South Texas Family Planning & Health Corp. Mobile Stops Audit. 2025.

7.

South Texas Family Planning & Health Corp. Mobile Clients Served. 2025.

8.

Ecma International. ECMAScript 2024 Language Specification. 2024. https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/

9.

U.S. Census Bureau. TIGER/line shapefile: Texas primary and secondary roads. Published online 2019.

NoteCitation and Contact

To learn more about this project, contact Mariana Sierra at msierra@healthyfutures-tx.org.

If you use or reference this tool, please cite:

Souch, J., & Healthy Futures of Texas. (2026). Mobile Health Unit Data Story Tool. Healthy Futures of Texas.

How to Navigate the Data Story

This interactive story combines narrative, maps, and data visualizations to explore access to mobile women’s healthcare services across Texas.

• Scroll through the story to move between sections and activate different visualizations.
• Hover over maps, charts, and graphics to reveal additional details and contextual information.
• Click or tap interactive elements where available to explore data more closely.
• Some graphics may support zooming, panning, or filtering depending on the device and screen size.
• Narrative sections and visuals are connected — as you scroll, the graphics update to reflect the current discussion.

This project is designed to be exploratory. Readers are encouraged to move between sections, revisit visualizations, and engage with the data at their own pace.

Footnotes

1. Distance estimates are approximate and were calculated using routes from ZIP code centroids rather than exact service locations; as a result, distances may not reflect true travel paths or starting points.

2. Area represents the combined land area of the 18 counties served by the mobile unit in 2025 and is intended to approximate the geographic service area.