Frontera Healthcare Network Brings Primary Care, Pharmacy and Walk-In Care to Hill Country Families

In an episode of The Building Texas Show, Rural Texas Has a Healthcare Crisis - This Nonprofit Is Fixing It | Allison Leftwich, host Justin McKenzie sits down in the Texas Hill Country with Allison Leftwich, chief strategy officer of Frontera Healthcare Network, to talk about what it takes to deliver everyday health care in communities far from major metros. The full conversation is also on YouTube.

Frontera is a community health center and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. "We have seven locations now," Leftwich says, across five communities: three in Fredericksburg, plus Mason, Menard, Junction and Brady. "In some of those communities we are the only healthcare providers," she adds, while in Fredericksburg the network works in close partnership with the local hospital and other primary care providers.

Leftwich walks through the services Frontera brings to the Hill Country:

• Primary care, behavioral health and psychiatry, with a psychiatrist who travels to each location on certain days of the month
• Pharmacy through the federal 340B discounted drug program, with prescriptions sometimes filled while patients are still in the office
• Walk-in care at the new Fredericksburg clinic
• Case management for patients with chronic conditions, including medication help and home delivery

McKenzie points out that for many rural Texans, a trip into town can take 45 minutes, so same-day care and same-day prescriptions matter. Leftwich describes a Menard patient with serious health concerns whose provider called daily to secure a referral. "That provider had the flexibility and knows them on such a personal level that they're able to advocate for them in a different way," she says. She also credits CEO Mikki Hand, who grew up in the area and still sees patients two days a week, for setting that tone: "she's caring for people who cared for her as a child."

The conversation also covers the rural health workforce. Frontera has hosted high school interns, welcomed college students for the first time this year and partners with Texas A&M to bring medical students in for rotations "to ensure that they understand what rural health care looks like." One provider who rotated with Frontera as a student is returning to join the team full time. Leftwich, who has worked with the INCubatoredu program at Fredericksburg ISD and Hill Country Venture Fest, says the goal is to "give them hope that they could find a career in their hometown."

Asked who should know Frontera is there, Leftwich admits even she once thought it was pediatrics only, because her own children were patients. "Our goal is to provide affordable health care for everybody in the community," she says, including people who are underinsured or uninsured, so they have "somebody that will advocate and fight for them."

Watch and listen: the full episode is on The Building Texas Show episode page and on YouTube.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, tells the stories of the founders, community leaders and projects shaping Texas, from economic development and small business to conservation and education. New episodes publish weekly on YouTube and all major podcast platforms, with highlights on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn at @thebuildingtexasshow. Watch, listen and subscribe at www.buildingtexasshow.com and https://www.youtube.com/@thebuildingtexasshow.

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