BY Jennifer L. Berghom
MERCEDES – Knapp Medical Center and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley offered a sneak peek Thursday of their new, collaborative Knapp Medical Center/UTRGV Family Practice Residency Clinic.
The residency program, the first of its kind in the Mid-Valley, will be located in the 13,800-square-foot building on the western edge of Mercedes, on the northwest corner of Expressway 83 and North Mile 2 West Road (at 2810 W. Expressway 83). The City of Mercedes donated the land to Knapp for the clinic.
The inaugural cohort for the Family Practice residency program includes Eddy Berges, MD; Diego Moreno, MD; Eliana Costantino Burgazzi, MD; Miguel A. Sanchez Rivas, MD; Carolina Gomez de Ziegler, MD; and Marita del Pilar Sanchez Sierra Marino, MD.
In addition to serving rotations at Knapp Medical Center, the residents also will see patients at the new clinic, expected to open in late August, under the direction of Dr. Miguel Tello, associate program director of the Knapp Medical Center/UTRGV Family Practice Residency Program.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey said the new residency program and clinic fulfill several of the university’s core missions, such as building partnerships with area hospitals and expanding healthcare throughout the Valley.
“They (the residents) will enrich everything we do here,” he said.
The new residency program and clinic also allow the UTRGV School of Medicine to continue its vision of being a catalyst to expand healthcare in the Valley, said Dr. John H. Krouse, dean of the School of Medicine.
“We want people to get the full range of medical care,” Krouse said.
Rene J. Lopez, CEO of Knapp Medical Center, said this program represents an expansion of medical education into the Mid-Valley.
“The Knapp/UTRGV Family Practice Residency Program will help create more opportunities in the Mid-Valley for those who would like to receive training as family medicine physicians,” he said.
“In addition, the educational and clinical components of this exciting project will be great assets for the entire Mid-Valley, thanks to our partnership with The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, the City of Mercedes, and the Knapp Community Care Foundation,” Lopez said.
