Elms Creek Family/Urgent Care Clinic Doctors
- Emergency Appointments Available
- Insurance Accepted
- Over 35 Years of Experience
Mission Statement:
To bless you and to be blessed at each step in this visit today.
Our Experienced Team Is Here to Help You
The rest of our staff comprises our pediatrician, Dr. Ricky D. Mitchell, internist Dr. Stephen Ralph (who has over 25 years of experience), our family nurse practitioner Abbey Volk-Perez. Elms Creek Family & Urgent Care Clinic of Killeen, TX, offers appointments but accepts walk-in patients as well. Call us to schedule an appointment with us today.
Meet Our Caring Staff
Dr. Charles W. Mitchell
When I was 7 to 8 years of age my grandfather showed me a picture on the wall. He said this was your great uncle, Oscar B. Baldwin MD (graduated from Shaw University Medical School 1913). He asked if I wanted to be a physician? My response was, no. I had no interest. A few years later Grandfather would re-ask the same question with the same response. However, by the time I graduated from High School becoming a physician was all I wanted. It’s like a seed had been planted that had now grown into a massive tree.
If only Dr Baldwin could have seen down the ages. He passed at the young age of 50. But just from this branch of the “tree “ I have a sister and a brother, and three nephews that are physicians as well as others coming along. Epigenetics on display.
I graduated from Loma Linda University Medical School, Loma Linda, California in 1979. I completed internship and residency in Emergency Medicine at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX and completed Board Certification in 1984. After completing a three year commitment as chief of emergency room and ambulatory care at DACH, Killeen, TX, I became chief of Emergency Department at Metroplex Hospital, Killeen,TX from 1985 to 2003. From 2003 to present I am the founder and medical director of Elms creek Family & Urgent Care Clinic, Killeen TX.
Along the way I have received many awards, acknowledgments and have served in many positions of significance. But my greatest joy is to serve my patients and colleagues that I work with. I am so honored to have been granted this opportunity by God to serve people of all ethnic groups and across all social economic strata. And I hope that for several more years to be a channel through which the Love, Compassion and Healing Hand of Christ can flow through to others.
-Dr. Charles W. Mitchell
Dr. Ricky D. Mitchell, "the singing doctor"
If you walk among the pediatric rooms at Elms Creek Family and Urgent Care Clinic, you may hear him before you even see him. Whether you hear a familiar melody or just some words of greeting or comfort added to a tune, you'll quickly realize why Dr. Ricky Mitchell's patients affectionately refer to him as "The Singing Doctor."
How did Dr. Ricky develop his well-known habit of singing to his patients? "I initially started singing at work because I felt happy and blessed," the pediatrician explains. "I noticed that the singing helped to calm the children as I was seeing them, so I've continued it. I also just love to sing anywhere I am!"
After completing his medical degree at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1996, Dr. Ricky received residency training in Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Dr. Ricky, who is board-certified in pediatrics, has worked in his field for over twenty years, twelve of which have been at Elms Creek Family & Urgent Care Clinic in Kileen, TX. He shares what he likes most about his work: "I like having fun with children and helping them to feel better. I get an opportunity to play with children every day!" His patients and their parents agree that Dr. Ricky enjoys what he does, and it shows!
What advice does Dr. Ricky have for all parents? "Every parent should love his or her child unconditionally. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor; you can love your child. Loving your children is not giving them everything in the world, but it means being there for them and showing love in ways that are meaningful to them."
Dr. Stephen Ralph
Elms Creek Family and Urgent Care Clinic is pleased to introduce Dr. Stephen Ralph, to Killeen and the surrounding communities. Dr. Ralph was relocated to Killeen in 2012 after practicing for 25 years in the Long Island/New York area.
Dr. Ralph's education started at Fordham University and then to Guadalajara, Mexico, for medical school. He adopted the language and culture, which has been invaluable in caring for the Hispanic community. His post-graduate training in Internal Medicine was through SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, attaining Board Certification in that specialty. The majority of Dr. Ralph's experience has been in Emergency Medicine, attaining Board Certification in that specialty as well; serving as Assistant Medical Director in Bayshore, Long Island. His experience extends to serving on the staff of Long Island State Veterans' Home, on the campus of SUNY/Stony Brook University Hospital, several years in a multi-specialty practice, and additionally with his father, a General Practicing Physician. He credits growing up around both his father's and grandfather's practices, both General Practitioners, with a love for medicine; "I never really considered any other career."
"The most common question I am asked is, 'How did you end up in Killeen?'" In 2010, Dr. Ralph went to Zambia, Africa on a mission trip. It was there as a member of the medical team that he met Dr. Charles Mitchell, a long-time Physician in Killeen. "We became friends and I was ready for a new chapter in my life."
Dr. Ralph's most recent enthusiasm is in aggressively pursuing lifestyle changes to impact his patient's health. He recently became Board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine. He has witnessed that many of our country's western diseases are provoked by our lifestyle choices; the foods we eat, our physical activity; and our emotional well-being all heavily influence our health. Dr. Ralph encourages his patients through personal counseling, recommending books, movies, and online material.
Dr. Ralph is a member of the Advent Health Hospital and is proud to be a member of the Elms Creek Family and Urgent Care Clinic and desires to provide care to our community for many years to come.
To schedule your appointment, please call (254) 554-8773.
Learn More About
Elms Creek Family/Urgent Care Clinic
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