New Texas A&M partnership brings legal support clinic to DHR’s Edinburg hospital

There’s a new legal clinic for low-income patients inside the Doctors Hospital at Renaissance campus in Edinburg as part of a new partnership with the Texas A&M School of Law Legal Clinics program. 

The legal clinic program, known as the Community and Legal-Medical Alliance (CALMA), is designed to help patients facing legal issues that may affect their health.

Attorneys, law students, and paralegals are available through the clinics to offer free legal services to those who may be struggling with housing instability, public health benefits, advance care planning, and family law issues. 

The program is supported by a grant from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, which is managed by the Economic Justice Initiative and the Texas A&M University School of Law Legal Clinics. 

The goal is to reduce the social determinants of care, which have been a focus of Medicaid programs for the past few years, to improve healthcare and reduce patient costs. 

Unresolved legal issues may delay patients’ access to healthcare, Dr. Carlos Cardenas, chairman of the board of DHR Health, said in a news release. 

“When legal issues remain unresolved for indigent patients, they create delays in seeking medical treatment, repeat visits, or even poorer health outcomes,” Cardenas said. “This partnership is designed to close this gap by embedding legal assistance into our healthcare delivery system and help our patients overall.” 

Beyond the in-person clinics, there’s already a legal kiosk at the DHR Health main hospital that connects patients to free legal resources and live attorney chats Monday through Thursday. 

“We are excited to expand the law school’s presence in the RGV and increase access to much-needed legal services,” said Fatma Marouf, director of Texas A&M Legal Clinics.