“It is the kind of thing that makes you proud of what we can do in Austin, Texas,” Watson said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Watson said health care is part of his “10 Goals in 10 Years” initiative for Austin's health, and two of those goals are adding more medical education and more of what he calls “uniquely Austin health clinics” to the city so the community can live healthier, longer lives.
“One of the assets I believe this community has that puts us in a position to achieve these 10 goals in 10 years is Central Health,” he said.
Central Health opened the North Central Health Center in October. The 49,100-square-foot facility has 58 patient exam rooms and 18 dental chairs, and offers departments for pediatrics, women's health, internal medicine and family medicine. It also has a pharmacy and has no income restrictions for Medicare.
The site has parking for 220 vehicles and several bike racks. Several large Heritage Oak trees located on the property were also preserved. The total cost for the project, including the land purchase, was $17 million, about $1 million under budget, said Rosie Mendoza, chair of Central Health's board of managers.
“This facility will allow us to provide primary care to an additional 11,000 Travis County residents, continuing Central Health's trend of increasing access to primary care for those who need it most,” she said. There's nothing that makes me happier than for us to increase access again to primary care to those who need it most.”
Central Health was created in 2004 to provide access to health care for those who are uninsured or underserved. The Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioner's Court partnered in 1970 to form CommUnity Care to develop a system of primary care, dental care, and family planning clinics and serve Travis County.
“In a short eight years, there have been tremendous strides made by Central Health and the organizations it affiliates with, such as CommUnityCare, to provide more and better health care for the citizens of Austin and Travis County,” Leffingwell said.
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