Free medical and health screenings provided by the Texas State Guard and other groups will continue across the Rio Grande Valley on Friday.

Medical staff at all four Valley locations of Operation Border Health Preparedness have already served thousands of patients this week.

The state pays special attention to the border. According to the Texas Health and Human Services website, the Valley area is among the top 10 in all 254 counties for lowest rates of health insurance, and highest levels of poverty rates.

The Texas State Guard says they can provide needed health care and prepare for future natural disasters through Operation Border Health Preparedness.

Col. Jonathan Maclements has been involved in the Texas State Guard for the last 20 years during major disasters.

Maclements says the Texas State Guard was tasked with transporting, housing, feeding, medicating and treating people who were displaced from their homes when natural disasters happened

As a nurse practitioner in the upper Valley, Maj. Michelle Stuart says the community needs the care provided during the week-long event.

“We are a very underserved area with people who have come back every year to get their prescriptions, and this is where they got it the year before,” Stuart says.

The last day of Operation Border Health Preparedness is on Friday, July 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A list of locations is online.

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