JASPER, Texas — Access to healthcare in rural parts of Southeast Texas is steadily improving.
This week the new Primary Care Pavilion opened in Jasper. The facility gives people a one stop shop to all their medical needs rather than making to long drive to Beaumont or Lufkin.
Jasper residents say that they are tired of going to Urgent Care for basic medical needs.
"Relieved I'm so relived. I'm so happy when he called and said 'hey I'm coming back to Jasper'," said Jasper resident Edie Hendrickson.
Hendrickson says when Dr. Pham left Jasper in 2020, other local doctors became overwhelmed with his patients.
"The other practices here had to try to absorb that," said Hendrickson.
Hendrickson says that a bad fall and a prolonged wait to see a doctor made her realize just how hard it was to access care in the rural county.
"It was kind of scary to not have more access to care," said Hendrickson.
Her husband, Michael Hendrickson found himself in a similar situation.
"I got the diagnosis and the care that I needed, but for anything that's maybe a little more complicated, we had to go out of town," said Michael Hendrickson.
At the new Primary Care Pavilion in Jasper, physicians like Dr. Richard Pham will see patients of all ages.
"Can perform the majority of healthcare. We not only do preventative services, vaccinations, health maintenance, but we take care of acute problems too. And we're able to handle most chronic problems," said Dr. Pham.
Board members with the Jasper Hospital District say they hope to expand these services.
"Once this facility gets up and running. You know, you're gonna always need specialist. You're gonna need kidney specialist. You're gonna need heart specialist," said Rodney Norsworthy, VP of the Jasper Hospital District board.
One of their most pressing goals is to revitalize prenatal care options.
"(Jasper) really became an OB dessert. There's been no OB facilities at all, so I'm hoping to restart here locally. Because all our moms and patients have had to go to Beaumont or Lufkin," said Dr. Pham.
In order to expand the facility needs to get established.
"When you recruit specialist to a small town they don't have referrals, and the patient base is not here. Primary care is the foundation of healthcare in any small town," said Dr. Pham.