Rural communities in the Texas Hill Country face a persistent healthcare crisis, with long travel times and limited access to basic medical services. Frontera Healthcare Network, a community health center and 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is working to change that by bringing comprehensive care closer to home. In a recent episode of The Building Texas Show, host Justin McKenzie spoke with Allison Leftwich, chief strategy officer of Frontera Healthcare Network, about the organization's efforts to deliver everyday health care in communities far from major metropolitan areas. The full conversation is available on Rural Texas Has a Healthcare Crisis - This Nonprofit Is Fixing It | Allison Leftwich.
Frontera now operates seven locations across five communities: three in Fredericksburg, plus Mason, Menard, Junction, and Brady. "In some of those communities we are the only healthcare providers," Leftwich said. In Fredericksburg, the network partners closely with the local hospital and other primary care providers. The services offered include primary care, behavioral health and psychiatry—with a psychiatrist who travels to each location on certain days of the month—and a pharmacy through the federal 340B discounted drug program, where prescriptions are sometimes filled while patients are still in the office. Walk-in care is available at the new Fredericksburg clinic, and case management for patients with chronic conditions includes medication help and home delivery.
For many rural Texans, a trip into town can take 45 minutes, making same-day care and same-day prescriptions critical. Leftwich described 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 said. She credited 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 addressed 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, said the goal is to "give them hope that they could find a career in their hometown."
Asked who should know Frontera is there, Leftwich admitted 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 said, including people who are underinsured or uninsured, so they have "somebody that will advocate and fight for them." The announcement matters beyond the immediate region: as rural hospitals and clinics across the country struggle to stay open, Frontera's model of nonprofit, community-based care could offer a template for other underserved areas. For residents of the Hill Country, the expansion means shorter drives, faster prescriptions, and a reliable medical home. More information is available at Frontera Healthcare Network.
