A variety of services will be provided at the new Karnes Community Health Center which will open in Karnes City this coming Monday, December 3.

The center is a federally qualified health department facility ‘FQHD’ that will provide medical, dental, mental health and lab facilities.

"We are here to serve the community and provide health care to all - those who have health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or no insurance," said Nurse Practitioner D. A. Ruby, who is in charge of the center.

If a patient has no insurance, the charges at the health center will be based on income.

A medical physician has been hired to join the staff in January and a dentist will be on board in July.

"This federal program has been in operation for such centers for several years and the grant for this center was initiated five years ago," Ruby explained.

With the help of the personnel at the same type of facility in Pleasanton, the grant for Karnes City came through several months ago.

One of the goals of the center is to provide screening and preventive services such as mammograms, flu shots, dental hygiene and mental health screening. The physician will work with Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital to ensure that patients will have access to further treatment as needed.

Mrs. Ruby has lived in Karnes City for the last eight years and previously was employed at the County Correctional Health Facility. She has been a nurse practitioner for many years. At this time the Karnes County Health Center has two local citizens on the Board of Directors for the center: Diane Espinosa and Leroy Casanova.

The center is located at 302 N. Butler in Karnes City and the hours of operation are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, for now, but they hope to expand to evening hours and half days on Saturdays in the future. Although the phone number is not available at this time, appointments may be made soon and walk-ins are welcome.