Harris County Health Leaders Unite to Transform Care for the Region's Most Vulnerable Residents

The Harris Collaborative brings healthcare, public health and community partners together to improve outcomes for Harris County's most vulnerable residents

HOUSTON, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Too many Harris County residents fall through the cracks between the very systems meant to care for them. A bold new partnership aims to change that. Houston Health Department, Community Health Choice, Harris County Public Health, The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, Harris Health, and Healthconnect Texas have come together to launch the Harris Collaborative—a new initiative focused on delivering more coordinated, consistent support for the residents who need it most.

The Harris Collaborative brings these organizations together around a simple but powerful idea: better outcomes are possible when healthcare, behavioral health, public health, and community services work together. Healthconnect Texas, the statewide health information exchange, provides the technology infrastructure to securely connect information across participating organizations and help turn that collaboration into action. Partners celebrated the launch at a kickoff event at Healthconnect Texas headquarters in Houston on October 6.

The Collaborative will focus on three groups of residents: 1) People living with chronic illness, especially heart disease risk, in the area served by LBJ Hospital; 2) People with both mental and physical health needs at high risk of emergencies or hospital stays that could have been prevented; and 3) People transitioning from the Harris County Jail with complex medical, mental health and social needs who would benefit from coordinated support in the community.

What these groups share is that no single organization sees the whole picture. By securely linking existing data, partners will gain a clearer, shared view of who they serve together. That means spotting gaps in care, aligning and prioritizing resources, and stepping in earlier—especially at critical moments like leaving the hospital, moving between mental health and community services, or returning home from the criminal justice system.

"The Harris Collaborative is about changing what happens to people before they reach a crisis," said Junaid Husain, CEO of Healthconnect Texas. "If we can bring the right people and information together at the right time, we have an opportunity to fundamentally change outcomes and improve the lives of our most vulnerable residents."

While the work begins in Harris County, the opportunity is much bigger. This initiative is designed to create a model that can be replicated across Texas—and ultimately help shape how communities across the nation approach coordinated, whole-person care.

About the Harris Collaborative

The Harris Collaborative is a multi-sector initiative designed to strengthen coordination among organizations serving Harris County residents with complex health and community needs. By creating a shared foundation for data analysis, population identification and coordinated intervention, the Collaborative seeks to help participating organizations better understand shared populations, align resources and measure collective impact.

About Healthconnect Texas

Healthconnect Texas is the statewide health information exchange (HIE) and community information exchange (CIE) for Texas, serving more than 28 million Texans. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Healthconnect Texas integrates clinical and community data to strengthen care coordination, advance population-level insights, and support whole-person health across the state. Through secure data exchange, community referral infrastructure, analytics, and partner-driven technology solutions, Healthconnect Texas helps healthcare providers, social service organizations, public agencies, researchers, and funders work together to improve health outcomes for Texans.

SOURCE Healthconnect Texas