Texas Children’s announces plans to move into Austin
In May 2017, Texas Children’s announced plans to expand pediatric and OB/GYN services into Austin, starting with the opening of Texas Children's Urgent Care Westgate in spring 2018.
Texas Children’s will open additional pediatric urgent care clinics, primary care pediatric practices, pediatric specialty care locations and maternal-fetal medicine practices across Austin over the next five years.
“Texas Children’s charge is to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” said Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace. “For the past two decades, that has been the driver behind our strategic growth, reaching beyond the Texas Medical Center and into the communities where our patients and their families live.”
“Making sure patients have access to exceptional health care close to home is why we have hospitals in Katy and The Woodlands, and why we have nearly 80 primary care, urgent care, specialty care, maternal-fetal medicine clinics and other health care locations throughout Greater Houston. And it's also why we are bringing Texas Children’s to Austin, Texas.”
Austin is the 11th largest city in the U.S. and it's one of the fastest growing cities in America, with a pediatric population of more than 480,000. Austin’s growth is outpacing its pediatric and women’s health care infrastructure. Many children and women from the Austin and Central Texas area travel to Houston for the higher level of care Texas Children's provides. Offering primary and specialty care there will create an opportunity for the organization to do an even better job of that, and allow Austin families to have the care they need close to home, just like families in Greater Houston.
Our presence in Austin will also facilitate referrals to Texas Children’s Hospital for high acuity patients in need of comprehensive tertiary care and procedures available only at hospitals with our depth and breadth of specialized services.
Executive Vice President Michelle Riley-Brown is leading the charge on our robust outpatient strategy in Austin. The five-year plan requires minimal financial investment, as Texas Children’s will not have to build new facilities but will collaborate with established specialty pediatric and OB/GYN providers in the region to help support the growing Austin community. Also, Texas Children’s Pediatrics will build on its 20-plus years of experience working with community pediatricians and will partner with existing pediatric primary care practices in the region.
“Texas Children’s entry in the Austin community is a natural extension of our mission to expand care and access to more families in Texas,” Wallace said. “And this is precisely what providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time actually looks like.”