How a Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Center (PPECC) Can Help

Texas children and adolescents ages birth through 20 years who have medically complex conditions and who are enrolled in Medicaid may be eligible to receive skilled nursing and other services in a licensed non-residential setting called a Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Center (PPECC). Care in a PPECC is required to be prescribed by a physician who oversees the health care of the eligible child or adolescent.
Children and adolescents can receive care at a PPECC for up to 12 hours a day if designated in their care plan. Care may include medical, nursing, psychosocial, therapeutic and developmental services appropriate to the individual’s medical condition and developmental status.
PPECCs provide children with complex medical conditions opportunities to play, learn and socialize with other children and adolescents in a community-based center while giving their parents or caregivers time to go to work or school or to take care of other key family needs. PPECCs are licensed to provide services for four or more individuals with complex medical conditions.
The staff of a PPECC must include a medical director and a registered nurse.
The choice to receive care in a PPECC is voluntary decision that requires the consent of the child or adolescent’s parents or legal guardian.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) began licensing and regulating the pediatric extended care centers in 2015. As of early 2021, PPECCs operate in the following locations:
- Brownsville
- Dallas
- Edinburg
- Houston
- Longview
- Nacogdoches
Other PPECCs are being developed around the state. Every PPECC must be approved and licensed by HHSC. Find a link for the current list of Texas PPECCs in this course’s Appendix of Resources.
PPECC services are available in the following Medicaid managed care programs: STAR, STAR Health and STAR Kids.
Note: A PPECC may not be co-located on the same premises as a licensed child-care center or any other facility licensed by HHSC or Department of State Health Services.