Killeen Daily Herald
HARKER HEIGHTS — A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday to officially open the new Harker Heights Medical Home.
Located in the Market Heights shopping center, the clinic is one of three new medical homes planned for the Killeen area. They are part of a new Army health care model, focused on offering community-based medical services.
A few hours later, a similar ceremony marked the opening of a second medical home in Copperas Cove.
Dignitaries from Fort Hood and Harker Heights were on hand for the Harker Heights ceremony, including outgoing Mayor Ed Mullen and Brig. Gen. Joseph Caravalho, commander of Southern Regional Medical Command and Brooke Army Medical Center.
Col. Steven E. Braverman, commander of Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, spoke before the ribbon-cutting. He said the clinic was “long needed,” adding the facilities afforded “continuity” for patients who could see their own doctors.
In his speech, Caravalho said within the new model of the medical home, patients would see a “team” of health care providers, all coordinated by a physician.
Caravalho explained the clinics were like “franchises” of the main Darnall medical center.
The clinics are located in communities where beneficiaries live, meaning patients no longer have to travel to Darnall for routine care.
The Copperas Cove Medical Home clinic is at 458 Town Square on West U.S. Highway 190 opened with a 2 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Braverman, Darnall’s commander, hosted the ceremony in Copperas Cove, and Caravalho also spoke about the new Copperas Cove facility and what it will mean to those soldiers and their families who live in Copperas Cove, Kempner and Lampasas.
The Copperas Cove clinic will have 35 employees and be able to service about 8,000 patients.
Participating in the event at the Heights clinic’s opening was the first official family to enroll in the clinic.
Chief Warrant Officer-2 Jesse Tait, 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, and his wife, Sarena, have four children and live in Nolanville.
Sarena said the new facility was convenient and offered access to a pharmacy, lab and urgent care.
“This is two exits from my house,” she said. “We can come here for just about anything.”
Five-month-old Oliver Tait, the youngest of the Taits’ children, helped Mullen cut the ribbon.
The Heights clinic also will employ 35 people, including four RNs and 16 LPNs. The cost for build out of the clinic is approximately $750,000, with an additional $2 million in costs to outfit it with equipment.
The Harker Heights clinic is located in the Market Heights shopping center at 201 E. Central Texas Expressway, Suite 200. It is open to military personnel and their families living in Harker Heights, Nolanville, Belton and Salado.
A Killeen facility soon will open near the corner of Elms Road and Stan Schlueter Loop.