What is Manatee County Rural Health Services?

BRADENTON -- There has been a lot of media interest in Manatee County Rural Health Services, yet many people are still unaware exactly who we are and what our organization does. We'd like the community to know. In 1978, MCRHS was chartered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation through the combined efforts of the Florida State Department of Health, Education & Welfare, the health department and the community leaders.

The Manatee County Rural Health Services, Inc.’s mission remains to be to establish, maintain, and specialize in the delivery of primary health care service and preventive health education. The guiding principle underlining service provision at MCRHS is that every person residing in the service delivery area, regardless of race, sex, color, nationality, language, origin, economic status, or disability has a right to access primary health services and preventive health education.  

In December of 1979, MCRHS opened its first healthcare center, and by 1980, added a second site in Samoset. In 1983 the first MCRHS obstetrical program was established. By August 1984, Col. (ret) Walter L. Presha became the new President & CEO of the organization.  Mr. Presha held a long history of experience running the administration of larger companies.

March 1993, marked the continued expansion of MCRHS healthcare centers. North Manatee Family Health Care Center opened, which continues to serve residents in the northwestern portion of Manatee County.

Two years later, East Manatee Family Health Care Center proved ready to service patients, and in August of 1997, the Southeast Family Health Care Center was prepared to do the same.

As the need for health care service continued to grow, MCRHS met the demand by opening seven additional centers. The Michael Bach Health Center, formerly Samoset Healthcare Center, opened in February 2000, specializing in infectious disease.  The HIV program was an advance in understanding and treating patients living in the Gulf Coast area.   

The Arcadia Family Health Care Center began seeing patients in August of the same year, marking the first expansion beyond the boundaries of Manatee County. Health Park East, specializing in obstetrics, opened in September 2002, and Alpha Therapy, specializing in the treatment of automobile accident victims, opened in December of 2002. In April 2003, North County Family Health Care Center was added in Sarasota County; and in August of that year, Lawton Chiles Family Health Care Center was expanded to include a dental facility.

Since 2004, the organization has continued to add new centers and services which includes: Chiropractic Services, Palmetto Healthcare Center (Family Practice) Manatee Pediatrics, Westgate OB/GYN, Community Care Health Center (Family Practice) Arcadia OB/GYN, Edgar H. Price Family Healthcare Center (Family Practice, Pediatrics and OB/GYN) Lakewood Ranch OB/GYN, Riverview and Foot and Ankle (Podiatry), USF Perinatology (High–risk pregnancies), and General Surgery.

Today Manatee County Rural Health Services, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit medical group featuring more than 40 board-certified and board-eligible physicians practicing in 20 locations in Manatee and adjacent Florida counties.  The organization stands out as one of the few in the country that has been able to function in such a large capacity while remaining mostly financially self-sustaining.   

MCRHS is one of the few independent medical groups in the region that has earned and maintained the prestigious accreditation of the Joint Commission, the national accrediting organization for healthcare providers.

Our group includes some of the region’s most respected physicians who, along with our team of 400+ professionals, combine advanced medicine with the compassionate care you would expect from a community-based medical group.
From our humble beginnings, when a group of community leaders responded to the need for accessible medical care by renting an abandoned schoolhouse for $1 to open our first center, we have grown to be a model of community-based medicine studied across the country.

Our organization began when our community needed a provider of last resort, thanks to the tireless efforts of our physicians, board, management team and staff; we have become a provider of choice, proudly serving our community.

In an effort to relieve the emergency room, individuals who have non-emergency medical needs, but still require a doctor’s care can visit MCRHS health care centers. MCRHS provides extended hours, to meet the urgent medical needs of our community – another way that MCRHS saves our local tax dollars.