Newberry city officials, business owners and community members gathered at Pabst Personal Care (PPC) on Monday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the clinic’s new office.
The family-owned and operated clinic, located at 25050 W Newberry Rd., opened to the public in August and is one of a few in Alachua County offering a Direct Primary Care (DPC) model.
DPC minimizes the use of insurance as patients pay monthly memberships for a comprehensive menu of personalized services. PPC offers services such as primary and urgent care visits, weight loss management, laceration repair, physicals and telehealth.
The clinic is open for walk-in appointments from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Fridays and every other Wednesday, and scheduled appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
PPC is also one of only a few Newberry businesses to benefit from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Commercial Facade Grant program. Around $9,000 from the grant helped fund new paint, reseal the parking lot, and update the landscaping to boost the clinic and the surrounding district’s value.
“It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been working on it for a while,” said David Pabst, PPC’s owner and leading physician assistant. “Thanks to support from my wife, my kids have been great, my mother-in-law for providing free labor, the Newberry CRA, Capital City and the [U.S. Small Business Administration].”
Born and raised in Newberry, Pabst, 29, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Florida in 2017 and with a physician assistant licensure from the University of South Florida in 2023.
He also received an Associate of Science degree in Emergency Medical Services and served as a paramedic and EMT in Columbia and Bradford counties in between degrees. Pabst is married to his high school sweetheart, is the father of two sons and works full-time in the ER at AdventHealth Ocala.
Pabst said he wanted to open the DPC clinic in Newberry after noticing a growing need for healthcare as the city continued to expand. He said many of his patients say they’ve used larger medical networks, like UF Health and HCA Healthcare, but desired a more personal experience.
“People feel not heard, they can’t get a hold of anybody, it’s four to six weeks to get in for an appointment, and then they get into their appointment and get a surprise bill,” he said. “[DPC] is a lot more transparent, and the biggest hurdle is the education side of things. People don’t know that knows it exists and exactly what it is.”
According to a Facebook post from the clinic, DPC aims to put the focus of health care back on the patient. Without needing to bill insurance, a health provider and patient can better determine how the patient is evaluated with predetermined costs.
Patients are allowed unlimited direct access to their provider via text, call or video chat and get same-day or next-day 30- to 60-minute appointments. The clinic can draw bloodwork and intends to dispense the opioid overdose reversal medication, Naloxone, with support from Newberry’s Opioid Task Force in the future.
PPC recommends patients carry insurance for labs, imaging, specialist visits, emergency room visits and hospitalizations not covered by their subscription. The clinic offers a free, 30-minute consultation and the following monthly, quarterly and yearly subscription rates, respectively:
- Children ages 3-17: $40, $108, $304
- Adults ages 18-64: $75, $204, $720
- Adults aged 65 and older are only available without Medicare
- A one-time, non-refundable $50 enrollment fee is applied per household.
Walk-in and urgent care franchise, Quick Care Med, previously owned the building PPC now operates in.
Newberry Mayor Tim Marden said he hopes PPC’s use of the CRA facade grant, as well as a marketing grant that’s in the works, will help keep the local business open to provide the city with the medical coverage it needs and increase the value of the district as a whole.
“It seems like there’s a lot of demand within the market, particularly the medical market, to really educate patients about what they’re paying for,” Marden said. “I think the level of service here is going to be significantly higher, much less the whole aspect of the logistics.”
Editor’s note: This story was underwritten by a grant from the Rural Reporting Initiative at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. To learn more or get involved, click here.
