Medical Center Health System & TTUHSC Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Diabetes Clinic
(David Gomez, News Anchor-DRB Media Communications Digital News)
Odessa, Texas/March 23, 2026-This is DRB Media Communications Digital News. Medical Center Health System and Texas Tech University Health Center in Odessa celebrated the opening of the diabetes clinic in the southside of Odessa with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Here’s the story.
Medical Center Health System, along with Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Odessa, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new MCH Clinic on West Clements, located on the south side of Odessa across from Ector College Prep Middle School. The clinic is dedicated to providing specialized care and support for individuals living with diabetes, aiming to improve health outcomes through focused treatment, education, and ongoing management services.
(Sylvia Rodriguez-Sanchez-Medical Center Health System, District 3)
“So, because of the demographics that we have, after doing careful consideration and, um, going through all of the files and seeing where are these people coming from? They’re coming from Pleasant Farms; they’re coming from the west side. Let’s put something at the south side, where it is mostly identified as the diabetic clinic being needed.”
In 2024, the MCH Clinic on Clements Street provided care to more than 500 patients, most of whom were being treated for diabetes. One of the biggest challenges facing older adults is a lack of knowledge about the disease and its treatment. Without proper care, diabetes can lead to serious complications, including nerve damage, foot problems that may result in amputations, and other long-term health issues.
(Dr. Devi Suravajjala, MD, Program Director for Endocrinology-Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center/Odessa, Texas)
“Periodic checkups with the doctors is really important. And coming to this clinic. So, this clinic is for uninsured patients who otherwise might not have accessible medical care. So we diagnose the patients when they come with the concern for diabetes. Or patients might already had a known diagnosis of diabetes. So we check on them and we provide free treatment including insulin and the glps, which are one of the advancements in the recent advancements in the diabetics and offers them for free. And we do the blood work too completely. The general screening for the blood work like annual physical exam, and that’s offered for free from medical center hospital as well. And we schedule them every three months. Um, if we make like a major changes in the plan or starting them on the new treatment, we ask them to come back in fifteen days or one month. And we also are trying to provide the free sensors, the continuous glucose monitors for those patients, because most of them don’t want to poke themselves too often. So we wanted a little bit of their glucose data to follow on the diabetes. So whatever samples we can get in our clinic, we are bringing it to the free clinic and distributing for the patients who are in need of them.”
Rising medical costs have led many residents on the south side of Odessa to delay or avoid seeking treatment for diabetes. To address this growing concern, the federal government has provided funding for this clinic, allowing it to offer care to low-income and uninsured individuals.
(Dr. Joseph Shayeb,MD, Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center/Odessa, Texas)
“It’s funded by the federal government, and a lot of patients don’t have the funds or the insurance to get to have access to care. Um, the healthcare disparities are increasing, especially in this area and other areas of Texas. So, this clinic provides care either free or discounted.”
For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera.
(David Gomez, News Anchor-DRB Media Communications Digital News)
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