The Shadow
ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. (VR) – At River Ridge Family Health, patients aren’t rushed through a crowded waiting room or squeezed into a five-minute time slot. Instead, they find a model of care that more closely resembles the family medicine many people remember from decades past.
Elizabeth Berry, the owner and sole provider at River Ridge Family Health, has created a direct primary care practice that focuses on time, access, and relationships. The clinic began as a telehealth-only service in March and opened its physical doors on April 6. Today, it offers both in-person and virtual visits to patients of all ages, from children to older adults.
“We offer the whole gamut of what you would expect at a primary care office,” Elizabeth says. That includes acute care when patients are sick, chronic disease management for conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, medication management, and routine wellness visits.
What sets River Ridge Family Health apart is its membership-based, direct primary care model. Instead of billing insurance for every visit, patients pay a flat monthly fee- $79 for adults on an individual plan, which covers unlimited visits during that month. Whether a patient needs to be seen once or ten times, in person or by telehealth, the cost is the same.
There is also a one-time enrollment fee of $100 for individuals, with additional options for families and business plans. For people who don’t want to become members but still need care, the clinic offers non-member urgent care visits for a simple, one-time fee. Because the clinic does not bill insurance, Elizabeth says she can spend more time with each patient, offer longer appointments, and often see people the same day or the next day. Her goal is to reduce wait times and increase access in a region where many residents say they struggle to get timely, attentive care.
Direct primary care is well established in larger cities, but it is still new in Rockbridge and the surrounding Highlands communities. Elizabeth believes it’s a model that fits this area especially well.
“There is limited access, and appointment times are very short,” she says. Many patients feel they spend more time in the waiting room than with their provider. River Ridge Family Health aims to change that by putting the relationship back at the center of care.
Elizabeth Berry brings more than 15 years of health care experience to her practice, including time in hospitals, primary care clinics, and health departments. Her passion has always been family medicine. A Rockbridge County native, she sees the clinic as a way to give back to the community where she grew up.
“This is my home. This is where my roots are,” she says. She wants to care for people she has known for years and also meet new patients from across the region, building the kind of long-term connections that once defined family practice.
Elizabeth’s practice does not bill insurance for visits but offers savings accounts and flexible spending accounts, providing an option for those who prefer not to pay entirely out of pocket. Elizabeth says she hopes the clinic will become a place where people without insurance can finally get consistent, high-quality primary care. River Ridge Family Health also offers a discount to first responders, thanking those who work on the front lines.
For many in the Alleghany Highlands who feel modern medicine has become too rushed and impersonal, River Ridge Family Health represents something rare: a return to a more personal, relationship-based approach, backed by modern tools like telehealth and flexible membership pricing. Patients can expect a provider who knows their story, understands their health history, and has the time to talk through treatment plans, lifestyle changes, and long-term goals.
In a health care system often defined by long waits and short visits, River Ridge Family Health stands out as a small practice with a big mission: to restore access, time, and trust to primary care in Rockbridge County and beyond.
River Ridge Family Health is located at 103 E. Washington Street, Lexington, VA. and the telephone number is 540-679-7464.
Elizabeth Berry
