Texas Children’s to expand outpatient network into Austin

Houston’s Texas Children’s Hospital, ranked among the best pediatric facilities in the nation, has announced plans to extend its outpatient pediatric and maternal care services into the state capital of Austin.

Over the next five years, the hospital plans on opening 18 pediatric primary care practices, four pediatric urgent care clinics, three pediatric specialty clinics and two maternal-fetal medicine practices. The first part of the expansion will be a pediatric urgent care clinic in south Austin set to open in spring 2018.

“This expansion reflects both an opportunity and a need,” the hospital’s physician-in-chief, Mark Kline, MD, told the Houston Chronicle. “It'll be an entrance into a market where we haven't had a presence and a benefit to Austin of our integrated and wholistic pediatric-care model that we think is second to none.”

Kline said there are no plans at the moment to build a new hospital in Austin, but said leaders at Texas Children’s are “open to the possibility” after they’ve implemented this expansion plan.

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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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