76 young doctors helping to expand access to healthcare Valley-wide, at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, Harlingen Medical Center, and Mission Regional Medical Center
WESLACO / HARLINGEN / MISSION, Sept. 2026 – A major expansion of physician residency programs is helping to increase access to healthcare across the Rio Grande Valley — with 76 young doctors now pursuing board certification in internal medicine or family practice at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, Harlingen Medical Center, and Mission Regional Medical Center.
The three hospitals are helping to bring much-needed primary care doctors to the Valley through the expansion of the Prime South Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium in South Texas.
The resident physicians will complete a three-year residency in either internal medicine or family medicine.
The residency programs currently include 25 internal medicine and 5 family practice residents at Knapp Medical Center; 38 internal medicine residents at Harlingen Medical Center; and 8 family practice residents at Mission Regional.
The programs will continue to add resident physicians each year — and once the programs are fully staffed, there will be 39 internal medicine and 18 family practice residents at Knapp Medical Center; 39 internal medicine residents at Harlingen Medical Center; and 12 family practice residents at Mission Regional. This represents a historic increase in medical coverage in the Mid-Valley, Lower Valley and Upper Valley areas.
Recently, the three Prime Healthcare hospitals held a “white coat ceremony” to honor the new residents, for beginning “a lifelong commitment to healing.”
The new residency programs received accreditation with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a national organization which accredits graduate medical training programs for physicians in the United States.
“Our mission is to train excellent physicians to deliver healthcare services in a variety of settings — and to help reduce shortages of physicians in our community,” said Todd Mann, CEO of Harlingen Medical Center.
Rene Lopez, CEO for Knapp Medical Center, said the programs will help create more opportunities in the Valley for those who would like to receive training as internal medicine or family practice physicians.
“The educational and clinical components of these exciting programs will serve as great assets for the entire Rio Grande Valley,” he added.
The programs are providing a supportive and engaging educational environment that promotes research and scholarship — as well as increasing the assimilation of evidence-based medicine into patient care.
In addition, the programs seek to provide holistic healthcare, promoting wellness, healthy lifestyles, and the advancement of health equity, by supporting efforts to address various factors and needs in the community which affect health (the social determinants of health).
In addition to serving as emerging academic health centers, the three Prime Healthcare hospitals have distinguished themselves for patient safety and quality, with each hospital once again receiving an “A” grade for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group, a national healthcare ratings organization.
This recognition highlights the Prime hospitals’ long-term consistency for patient safety. For example, Mission Regional Medical Center has earned “A’s” for patient safety 12 straight times, from 2020 to 2026. Meanwhile, Harlingen Medical Center has received 10 consecutive “A” grades for patient safety, from 2021 to 2026.
Knapp Medical Center has also demonstrated strong safety performance, earning five “A” grades and three “B” grades since 2022.
For more information on the internal medicine residency program at Knapp Medical Center, please call (956) 973-3528 or email KMC-IM-GME@primehealthcare.com, and visit www.knappmed.org/graduate-medical-education/internal-medicine-gme. For more information on the internal medicine residency program at Harlingen Medical Center, please call 956-365-1926 or email HMC-GME@primehealthcare.com, and visit www.harlingenmedicalcenter.com/graduate-medical-education.
For more information on the family medicine residency program at Mission Regional Medical Center, please call 956-598-7020 or e-mail mrtx-gme@primehealthcare.com, and visit www.missionrmc.org/graduate-medical-education/. For more information on the family medicine residency program at Knapp Medical Center, please call (956) 825-3761 or email KMC-GME-FM@primehealthcare.com, and visit www.knappmed.org/graduate-medical-education/family-medicine-gme/.