Mineral Wells Native Dr. Ruth Duesterheft Comes Back Home, Joins Palo Pinto General Hospital as a Family Physician
MINERAL WELLS, TX. – Sept. 8, 2022 – Dr. Ruth Duesterheft has joined Palo Pinto General Hospital as a family physician, returning to her hometown, where she graduated from Mineral Wells High School before heading off to college and medical school.
Dr. D, or Dr. Ruth, as she’s known, completed her three-year residency in July at Conroe Family Medicine, where she’s worked in a clinic several times per month in an underserved part of Montgomery County. She graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science and earned her MD from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
“Growing up in a small town, you have limited access to health care,” Dr. Duesterheft says of her decision to come home and establish her practice. “I really like this town. I just feel a great sense of community.”
Dr. D’s Mineral Wells Family Health office will be at 101 Holly Road across from the hospital and opens Sept. 19. Dr. D is the latest addition to PPGH’s staff of healthcare providers and other professionals, as it continues to increase its reach and services across Palo Pinto County.
“This was her dream,” Ross Korkmas, PPGH chief executive officer, says. “Any time you get a chance to bring a physician who grew up here back home, it was a matter of getting it all done.”
Dr. D grew up around the Mineral Wells dentistry of her father, Dr. Paul Duesterheft, working in his office a few summers. She’s spent part of her residency in Conroe working in a Federally Qualified Health Center, which receives federal funding to provide primary care in underserved areas.
Dr. D wants to serve the entire family. “The grandparents, the kids, everyone,” she says.
While it was her dream to come back to Mineral Wells, “I didn’t know if there would be an opportunity,” she says. “I feel very lucky to be a part of it.”
Mineral Wells Family Health will host an open house and ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.
ABOUT PALO PINTO GENERAL HOSPITAL
Palo Pinto General Hospital, operated by the Palo Pinto County Hospital District, is dedicated to providing high-quality convenient health care throughout the region. The county’s leading health care provider operates centers in Mineral Wells, Gordon, Santo, and Possum Kingdom Lake, emphasizing prevention and wellness. PPGH’s growing network includes an acute care hospital and rehabilitation and skilled nursing unit; urgent and primary care clinics; specialty clinics in women’s services, heart, orthopedics and sports medicine, pain management, pediatrics, urology, and pulmonary; and a mobile healthcare unit. Learn more at ppgh.com.
Contact:
Scott Nishimura, Pavlik and Associates
817-913-8671
Megan Hudson, Palo Pinto General Hospital
(940) 328-6254