Proposed after hours medical clinic stirs concern in Abilene neighborhood

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – A proposed medical office with unconventional hours and a cash-only model near Sayles Boulevard and South 14th Street is raising concerns among some neighbors.

The initial plan called for a mobile medical unit to be parked in the driveway of a home at Sayles Boulevard and College Street. The owner, Erica Lunsford, an emergency medicine physician assistant, first proposed extending hours past midnight. However, the Abilene Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denying the zoning change request.

Lunsford appealed to the Abilene City Council with a revised plan to operate out of a renovated garage on the property.

“I’d like to help the community. Whenever you’re a nurse, or a physician assistant, or a doctor, you take the Hippocratic oath to do no harm. I personally believe that part of that doing no harm is not robbing people, which is what the current medical system does,” Lunsford told the council.

She added that her clinic would not be high-traffic, with patients seen one at a time and only five to seven per day. She also expressed a willingness to adjust her hours of operation.

Still, not all neighbors are convinced. One resident voiced her concerns to the council.

“This is a cash-only business open till 2:00 a.m., and I already have plenty of homeless people rifling through my glovebox and my carport and things,” she told the council. “It may be a great service, it may be a needed service, but that doesn’t seem like the right neighborhood for it.”

The Abilene City Council heard the proposal on Tuesday for the first reading. The matter will come up again at the next meeting, with time for additional public input.