Clinic gets new owners

Rush Family Health Care has been acquired by the Starling Clinic. The clinic began operating under that umbrella

April 1. Abrar Riaz owns and manages the new organization.

“The patients’ continuity of care will not change,” Riaz said. “We’ve retained all the same staff and we’re offering all the same services.”

The clinic is transitioning into a “medical home” health care model that will include expanded hours and services. A few of the planned expanded services include allergy testing, procedural pain management and more.

“We will also be adding more services and extending hours … so patients will have

a better chance to come after work and find us open,” Riaz said. “One key takeaway in the patient-centered medical home philosophy is accessibility. … We want the patients to know they’re in good hands.

It’s exciting times. We’re going to be adding more services to offer them more convenience … and just overall more attention to them. They come first.”

Founders of Rush Family Health Care, Dr. Ronald Rush and Lori Rush, a physician’s assistant, will no longer be medical providers at the clinic but will serve as advisers to the new company.

Dr. Krishna Kumar is the new chief physician for the clinic. She is an experienced internal medicine physician who comes to Texarkana from the Tyler, Texas, medical community. Other new medical providers and staff have been hired, and more will be hired in the coming months.

“We believe by the end of the calendar year we will have doubled the number of staff members,” Riaz said. “Right now there are 12. We should have at least 24 staff members by the end of the year in addition to adding more physicians and providers.”

The plan is for the Starling Clinic in Texarkana to serve as the heart of a new practice management organization. Other clinics are being planned, purchased or established in Tyler, Houston and Abilene in Texas and in Florida.

Rush Clinic opened in September 2001. The clinic is 12,000 square feet and has 36 exam rooms and a sleep lab.

“The reason we felt this was the right opportunity is the history of the clinic. Dr. Rush established a great practice … a very loyal patient base and the facility itself is grade A. It’s a great site for expansion, so it was a combination of the legacy of the clinic, the history of the clinic, staff and the types of services he was providing in his clinic. The patients come first. That mindset or culture goes with what we’re trying to establish in our clinic,” Riaz said.

The Starling Clinic is now accepting new Medicare patients.

For more information about the clinic or to make an appointment, call 903-794-7874.