AUSTIN, Texas — Access to healthcare can be considered a privilege that not everyone has.
As expansion continues in Travis County, Central Health and Community Care are working to address the needs of communities that have been underserved. Together, they'll open four new health and wellness centers by summer of 2023.
Ted Burton with Central Health said it's a conversation that began several years ago.
"Our goal is to make healthcare as accessible as possible for everyone in Travis County, but specifically our mission is to help those who are low income," Burton said.
Central Health recently broke ground on two new centers in Del Valle and Hornsby Bend.
Burton said they really wanted to hear from community members, so they created a committee of residents like Lorena Sanchez several years ago.
"I'm pretty much involved in the church and the school, so I know my community," said Sanchez, who's lived in Hornsby Bend more than 20 years.
In 2018 she began meeting with Central Health about the possibility of a health center and, four years later, it's closer to becoming a reality.
"Our community is growing in population but not in resources, so we don't have clinics around here, and that clinic is going to be awesome," Sanchez said.
Community Care will open two new locations. They broke ground on one Monday in a public housing community called Chalmers Court in East Austin.
"Being able to provide healthcare right where people live is really critical to really improving outcomes for folks," said Tara Trower, the chief strategy officer at Community Care.
Trower said the center will be the first of its kind but hopefully not the last.
They also have plans to break ground on a center in Pflugerville in the summer. All the health centers are expected to be open by summer 2023.
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