The new Knapp-UTRGV Family Practice Residency Clinic in Mercedes now offers counseling services in addition to the medical care it has been providing for its patients.
This family practice clinic opened its doors in late August and is a collaboration between Knapp Medical Center and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It is located at 2810 W. Expy. 83 and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
In an interview with The Rider, Jennifer L. Ortega, a behavioral scientist and assistant professor for the UTRGV School of Medicine, said the purpose of the Knapp-UTRGV Family Practice Residency Clinic is to “enhance the quality of life for our patients.”
“We understand that not only when patients come in they have physical needs that need to be addressed, but they also come with mental and emotional needs that need to be addressed,” Ortega said. “So, if all the needs are addressed, then the patient will have a better chance of living a healthier quality of life and perhaps, you know, make better choices in terms of their eating or their decision-making and so, then, it improves their day-to-day living.”
In this clinic, the residents, who are all doctors graduated from a medical school and are pursuing a specialty in family medicine, are supervised by Miguel Tello, a family medicine physician and associate program director of the Knapp-UTRGV Family Practice Residency Clinic.
Tello said the purpose of this program is to provide an opportunity for residents to gain experience in different settings of the community.
“All residents receive special training and skill development in the competencies of community medicine,” according to the UTRGV website. “Residents complete activities designed to familiarize them with community resources and agencies in order to better serve the special needs of an underserved population. Residents gain experience in community settings, including school health centers, United Way agencies, group homes, and nursing homes.”
Currently, six family practice resident physicians comprise the clinic: Dr. Eddy Berges, Dr. Eliana Constantino Burgazzi, Dr. Carolina Gomez de Ziegler, Dr. Diego Moreno, Dr. Marita del Pilar Sanchez Sierra Marino and Dr. Miguel Sanchez Rivas; as well as Nicole Guzman, a family nurse practitioner.
Tello said the clinic serves about 20 patients daily and it has served about 300 patients since it opened its doors.
Ortega said the services of this new clinic will benefit the Rio Grande Valley.
“We are constantly seeing so many individuals, even young people, suffering from anxiety and depression and so,” she said. “… A lot of times they don’t get the support that they need, and so, here is something. Here is a service that could possibly help them at the same time that they are going in for let’s just say, you know, they have the cold or, you know, the flu or something. And then, ‘Wow!’ they find out … there is a therapist here. ‘I can see them,’ ‘I have not been feeling good,’ you know, emotionally, ‘There is something that is going on at home,’ and so forth, and so, they get that support. It’ll help the community in that it is a service that is much needed because there is such a rise in issues with regard to mental health and mental well-being.”
Ortega said the clinic is different from others since it looks at the patients from all the factors that can be affecting their health.
“We look at the patient in terms of all the other factors that could be contributing to their illness or, you know, their sickness at the time,” Ortega said. “So, we look at factors like what is their mental and emotional state or well-being, what are their economic factors, what are their social factors, do they have a support system. … So, we have a behaviorist, which is myself, at the clinic every day, Monday through Friday. … So, if the residents notice that a patient may be presenting symptoms of depression or anxiety, or may even say it to the doctor, you know, that they haven’t been feeling well mentally or emotionally, then they can ask the patient if they would like to see the behaviorist that is in the clinic.”
She said most of the time, patients accept the counseling services.
The clinic accepts different types of insurances, including Medicaid and Medicare.
Ortega and Tello encourage the community to reach out for help.
“The message that I would give to the community is that we are here,” she said. “We are open, we are available and that they are not alone. And, that if they need medical care, and mental and emotional care, we are here to serve and we are available for the community.”
For more information about the Knapp-UTRGV Family Practice Residency Clinic, or to make an appointment, call 973-3531.
