Knapp Medical Center opened in Weslaco on January 2, 1962 as Knapp Memorial Methodist Hospital. In the mid-1950's, interest was expressed by Weslaco citizens for building a hospital through a Chamber of Commerce survey.

The McAllen District of the United Methodist Church agreed to run the hospital if a structure was built, so the Mid Valley Hospital Development Corporation was formed and volunteers were enlisted from Donna, Mercedes, Edcouch-Elsa, Progreso, and Weslaco.

The fund campaign that followed started with a gift of $300,000 from the Knapp Foundation. To recognize their generosity, the hospital was named after the Knapp family. Another $500,000 was raised among the Mid Valley communities by numerous volunteers and this $800,000 total was matched by a federal Hill-Burton grant to make the hospital a reality.

In December of 1986, the United Methodist Church and Knapp Memorial Methodist Hospital, under amicable agreement, dissolved their long time relationship. Knapp Medical Center remains a not-for-profit, private, acute care provider. This means that Knapp uses its income for operating expenses, retirement of debt and expansion of services.

Knapp doubled in physical space in 1980 and added 80 beds to the original 100. Knapp grew by a third to add outpatient services and a new Emergency Room in 1990.

Weslaco voters decided to swap 15 acres of Harlon Block Park for 50 acres in southwest Weslaco next to Memorial Elementary School in 1993. This gave Knapp adjacent land for future expansion. Some of the land has been used for a helipad and parking. As the culmination of a collaborative project to help diabetes patients effectively manage their disease, the Diabetes Center began in 1994. Also in 1994, a three-story professional building, the Medical Plaza, opened just north of the main hospital building.

With continuing population growth and needs, all inpatient, surgical and obstetrical services were moved and expanded from the original, single story building into a six story tower with 233 inpatient beds in December of 1995. Further community needs led to the Hospice program accepting its first patient in late 1996 and to the dedication of a new Emergency Department in May 2003.

Services

Knapp Medical Center, a 233 bed not-for-profit hospital, serves a city and rural population of more than 175,000 people

Over 220 physicians, all independent professional practitioners, serve on the KMC Medical Staff. Knapp employs approximately 1,000 people and provides volunteer opportunities for over 250 people.

• A 24-hour physician staffed Emergency Department with a Level III Trauma designation
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Sixteen bed Medical Intensive Care Unit
• General surgical services for both inpatients and outpatients
• A total of 52 cardiac monitored beds
• Pediatric unit
• Radiology services including MRI, CT, Nuclear Medicine, Ultrasound and Digital Mammography
• Hospice care services
• Rehabilitation services (inpatient only)
• The Emergency Department at Knapp Medical Center provides 24-hour physician coverage, seven days a week.
• The Knapp Medical Center Diabetes Center works with the patient's doctor to develop a personalized plan of education that will help the patient understand and manage their diabetes.
• The physicians, all independent professional practitioners on the KMC Medical Staff, offer medical services such as anesthesiology, obstetrics, general and vascular surgery, orthopedics, endoscopy procedures, pediatric care, neurology, urology, hospice services, family practice, internal medicine, endocrinology, nephrology, oncology/hem-atology, otorlaryngology (ear, nose & throat), pathology, radiology, podiatry, and pulmonology to the Mid Valley Community.

Service Area