May 29, 2025
Years of planning have led to the grand opening of the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center on June 7, which will kickstart the future of health care access for the East Travis County community.
DEL VALLE, Texas—Before a nearly 20,000-square foot building could be constructed from the ground up, and before a much-needed health care facility was brought to Del Valle in 2025, a coalition of voices led advocacy for the historically underserved region.
More than eight years ago, in fact, stakeholders, community activists, and political leaders pushed for critical resources in Eastern Travis County, a place that was ground zero for health care inequity—and a place that, in some corners, life expectancy was 10-20 years shorter than those living west of I-35.
Meeting inside a Del Valle ISD administrative building in 2017, community leaders acted as a catalyst for change in a region sometimes known as the Eastern Crescent, shaping the earliest beginnings of the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center’s story.
“As a community advocate, I testified before the Central Health Board of Managers,” said current Austin Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, who serves District 2 on the Austin City Council. “I addressed the Central Health leaders at the time on the disparities the community faced in Del Valle, and we implored them to act, because this issue around health care equity and health care access was deeply personal. I’ve always firmly believed your zip code should not dictate your life expectancy.”
The grand opening of the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center will take place on June 7 from 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. CST. The celebration will feature Del Valle ISD student performances, a Teddy Bear clinic, fitness demonstrations and a STAR Flight helicopter landing. Central Health will provide food and drinks. To learn more about the day, visit the event page.
Shaping The Vision of Health Care in Eastern Travis County
Transformational change, however, wasn’t the result of a single moment. Buoyed by a series of community advisory committees in early 2018, Central Health’s promise to Eastern Travis County was shaped by stakeholders like Susanna Ledesma Woody, who played a critical role in steering the direction of the health care system’s improving infrastructure, and many others.
“The advocacy eventually helped push the county and Central Health to act,” said Woody, who was a member of the Del Valle Advisory Committee eight years ago and had been advocating for resources in the Eastern Crescent since 2011.
Central Health’s objective over that stretch was to ensure everyone had a seat at the table, and more than 100 stakeholders from Southeast Travis County, Colony Park, Hornsby Bend and Northeast Travis County connected during these advisory committees to plan the future of health care in Central Texas’ most underserved areas.
“When they (Central Health) finally committed to building clinics in our area, I was part of those early conversations—helping shape the design, the services, and the vision for what our community needed the most,” said Woody, who today is the Vice President of the Del Valle Independent School District Board of Trustees and the President of the Del Valle Community Coalition.
Running jointly to these meetings was the Eastern Travis County Health and Wellness Collaboration, a multi-disciplinary team of community-based health care and service providers representing over a dozen organizations. The group convened in 2017 and developed initiatives for underserved communities in Del Valle, Colony Park, Manor, and Community First! Village.
A crucial result from those sessions was $1.5 million in Central Health’s 2018 fiscal year budget that was earmarked to improve and support health care plans in the region.
Central Health Builds a Road Ahead
Listening to its stakeholders and focusing on a plan forward, Central Health furthered its strategy to meet the demands of its taxpayers, first securing health care access to Travis County residents with low income by opening the Del Valle Health Center, a three-day-a-week clinic that served the region starting in late 2017.
The use of the space, which was owned by the county, was spurred on by Travis County Precinct Four Commissioner Margaret Gómez, who urged Central Health to “meet the residents’ needs.” Based on a Central Health Demographic Report that was later published in 2020, 27.8% of Del Valle households were at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.
“Over the years, I’ve dreamed and worked for the re-establishment of a health clinic in Del Valle to address the needs of families quickly and in a way to make them feel better about their care,” County Commissioner Gómez said.
By 2021, Central Health formalized a $31 million capital investment to bring long-term health care access to the communities of Hornsby Bend, Colony Park, and Del Valle.
“I think the investment showed that Central Health was really committed to addressing the issues in Del Valle,” said Central Health Board Manager Shannon Jones, the former director of Austin Public Health with the City of Austin. “Because we put our dollars down in the creation of that new facility.”
In 2023, Central Health opened the Hornsby Bend Health & Wellness Center at 3700 Gilbert Road.
Now, nearly two years later, Central Health will officially welcome community members to the grand opening of the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center.
A third health facility in Colony Park, located in Northeast Austin, is scheduled to open in 2027.
Providing Service Where the Community is Located
Within the last year, the Central Health system, which includes CommUnityCare Health Centers and Sendero Health Plans, has ramped up its specialty care and diagnostic services, offering more than 18 diverse lines of health care. At the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center, CommUnityCare has begun providing comprehensive primary, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services for the community.
“By putting the health center where people can go get health care services on a frequency in their neighborhoods, it will go a long way toward creating positive health outcomes and making a healthier community,” Jones said.
During the last eight years, as leaders at Central Health focused on meeting needs in Eastern Travis County, creative solutions were hatched, bringing inspiring moments of health care access.
In 2019, a clinic on wheels offered health care services in the region. Then in 2020, drive-up COVID-19 testing sites were added.
“We knew the community couldn’t wait, so we responded with short-term solutions while planning for long-term impact,” said Iván Dávila, Central Health’s vice president of marketing and communications. “It was a real-time effort to show up for our neighbors.”
Grassroots Advocate Pushes for Change
Fourteen miles south of Del Valle, Angelina Zarate found herself searching for answers. Her Creedmoor Grocery Store had long acted as a hub for locals in need of fresh food, invariably because the Del Valle area was without a traditional grocery store.
Over time, she built trust with her network of customers, many of them calling her “Mama” for the way she understood and cared for their struggles.
Many workers in the area lacked insurance and were without basic access to health care. Some feared going to clinics to see doctors who they were unfamiliar with and didn’t speak their language. Many didn’t have options to get there, either.
In time, Zarate became a grassroots advocate for added resources in the Eastern Crescent.
“This facility is very important, because a lot of the community is 90% Hispanic and they don’t have access to any health insurance or anything,” she said. “This clinic, it will provide everything they need and the (doctors and nurses) will provide it in Spanish.”
The central location of the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center on Elroy Road also meant that, for many people living on the edges of Travis County, their commutes for health care services would cut in half. What’s more, Central Health’s Medical Access Program (MAP) and MAP Basic provide health care options for Travis County residents with low income.
“It’s validation for a community that’s been asking for these services for a long time,” Dávila said. “It shows what’s possible when community voices and systems come together to meet real needs.”
Ledesma Woody has long echoed that thought, too.
“At the end of the day, this isn’t just about buildings,” she said. “This is about access, dignity, and making sure every community, no matter their zip code, has what they need to live a healthy, full life.”
A Local Leader’s Work Comes Full Circle
Eight years ago, Fuentes said her own advocacy and political career was born out of this crisis. She now serves District 2, which spans Dove Springs, Del Valle, Pleasant Hill, Dittmar, Easton Park, and Goodnight Ranch.
Since taking office in 2021, her work has continued in these high-need areas.
Fuentes was present for Central Health’s Del Valle groundbreaking in 2022. Three years later, she’ll be on hand for its grand opening.
“Central Health opening the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center — in addition to the Hornsby Bend Clinic—is really a way to rebuild trust with the community, and I really view it as Central Health making good on the mission of the health care district, which is to provide care for indigent populations,” Fuentes said.
The grand opening of the Del Valle Health & Wellness Center wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of countless community stakeholders and grassroots advocates throughout Travis County. Meeting nearly eight years ago, these individuals comprised Central Health’s community advisory committees.
We would like to thank these individuals for their service: Maria Segovia, Community Member; Amelia Casas, Policy & Communications Advisor, Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes – District 2; Anna Ortiz, Community Member; Elena Tovar, Del Valle Independent School District; Jose Becerra, Commissioner’s Court Office; David Salazar, Chief of Staff – Commissioner Margaret Gómez; Richard Rendon, Executive Assistant – Commissioner Margaret Gómez; Ms. Ann Hueberger, Del Valle Independent School District Board of Trustees; Mr. Jerry Slaton, Community Advocate; Ms. Alice Vallejo, Community Advocate; Dr. Stephanie Morgan, UT School of Nursing; Mr. Allen Doss, Community Advocate; Dr. Nora Comstock; Susanna Ledesma Woody, Vice President of the Del Valle Independent School District Board of Trustees; Angelina Zarate, Community Member; Robert Wilhite, City of Creedmoor; Horacio Segovia, Community Member.
