No longer will patients have to drive 50 miles to see a doctor.

At the May 27 meeting of the Elbert Board of County Commissioners, chairman Hope Goetz signed an agreement with Plains Medical Center Inc., which will bring in a medical doctor two days a week to the public health building.

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, patients living in the rural areas of Elbert County can see a medical doctor for various services covering most medical needs, excluding X-rays. A doctor from Plains Medical will be on staff those two days of the week to give patients advice, medical treatment and also prescriptions.

MarySue Liss, director of Elbert County Health and Environment, said she is very excited to have Plains Medical Center in Elbert County.

“This is a great asset to the county and now people can seek primary care in Elbert County and not have to travel a great distance,” she said.

Liss said Plains Medical will accept Medicare and Medicaid patients as well as all other insurance holders. She said Plains Medical is a federally qualified community health center which means doctors will see patients who have no insurance and representatives from Plains Medical will work with patients on payment plans.

“A sliding fee schedule is used for patients who need it, which is used to calculate payment amounts and discounts based on income,” Liss said.

She said many people in rural communities do not have a consistent medical destination and she hopes people in Elbert County will utilize Plains Medical and develop a relationship with a doctor.

“One of the goals of public health is to find every citizen a medical home and they end up waiting too long to treat medical issues until they have to go all the way to the emergency room,” she said. “Now people can have an opportunity to monitor their health better and we can get people connected.”

Plains Medical Center Inc. will begin seeing patients July 3 at the public health building located at 75 Ute Ave. in Kiowa and appointments can be made by calling 303-621-3037 after June 15.