ROBSTOWN, Texas — Diana Leyba takes eight medications a day for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart issues; health conditions that make it hard for her to walk and perform daily activities.
She lives in the Cindy Park 2 neighborhood in Robstown and has to travel 30 minutes to either Alice or Corpus Christi to get medical services.
“When I do get sick, I have a hard time getting up and walking, so my son has to take me and sometimes he has to stop working,” she said.
She said easier access to healthcare is something she and her neighbors are hoping the county will bring to them.
Although the health district will be split starting Tuesday, Nueces County officials and Commissioner of Precinct 2 Joe A. Gonzalez are working with the City of Corpus Christi to bring a mobile bus clinic to residents like Leyba who live in rural areas. Gonzalez said he’s hoping it will be up and running in about 40 days.
“They’re not going to have to have access. We’re going to come to them. You can’t come to us, we’re going to you,” Gonzalez said.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni said the county is providing a driver for the bus as well as insurance and fuel. He said the city is providing nurse practitioners to serve patients.
He said the bus will offer residents services like check ups, immunizations and referrals, and would go out to areas like Petronila, Bishop and Agua Dulce twice a month.
“In the past they may not have sought any services, but now with the bus, it will give them access to good health services,” Zanoni said.
The Director of Public Health for the Corpus Christi - Nueces County Health District, Annette Rodriguez, said the bus will also offer educational experiences to residents who are combating obesity and diabetes.
“We’ve in the past set up like healthy eating demonstrations, so we want to do a lot of the same, similar things to be able to continue to help the community,” Rodriguez said.
Leyba said the bus wouldn’t just help her, it would benefit the health of her entire community.
“I think that the residents here in the community would benefit and would be very grateful,” she said.
