Nonprofit clinic in Austin offers free healthcare for uninsured kids
AUSTIN, Texas - Unassuming, and tucked away in a South Austin industrial park, there’s a place where no child falls through the cracks.
"Somebody said to me, ‘What do you want to do for the rest of your life?’" said Dr. Claire Hebner. "I said, ‘I kind of want to serve these kids who I know don't get served.'"
Dr. Hebner has worked as a pediatrician for 20 years.
"I've lost kids, you know, at my previous jobs, lost them as a provider because they can't come back because they fell off insurance or they fell off Medicaid. And now these kids don't have any options," said Dr. Hebner. "So then sometimes they get back on and I see them two years later, and they don't have their shots, and they've developed something that should have been seen a long time ago."
Dr. Hebner and nurse Monica Simmons combined their experience and observations after years in the medical field to take on a new venture - Lirios Pediatrics.
"We were putting it together and going, 'Are they going to come?'" said Simmons. "And they did."
Since opening in December 2022, the clinic has served 1,000 patients.
"We knew there was a big need, but we didn't know if people would find us or how to kind of market to people," said Dr. Hebner. "And in the beginning, we'd see one person a day, and several months into it, we have a waiting list of six weeks sometimes for physicals."
Lirios Pediatrics provides 100% free healthcare services to uninsured kids from 0 to 18. They have Spanish translators on site, and they also use a HIPAA-compliant, on-demand service that can translate 300 languages. They only have four paid positions, and the front desk is entirely run by volunteers.
Services include everything from vaccines to basic lab work. Other services they are able to provide through partnerships. For example, Quest Diagnostics recently donated lab result services for a year. Some donated medications are available on-site and others Lirios Pediatrics will order and pay for.
Kids are often referred to the clinic by school districts in Central Texas, and one of the most popular services provided is vaccines.
"Kids are coming off those (Medicaid) enrollments, not because they don't qualify, but because there's paperwork and then there's a backlog of getting them back on it," said Simmons. "So we're seeing kids that are in the gap right now that weren't before."
The clinic also has a holistic focus, providing counseling services, transportation assistance, and even clothes and food for families if needed.
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"We've tried to put together enough resources that we can meet immediate needs here in the clinic and then send them out to other community organizations that are really designed to meet those needs," said Simmons.
"It’s really great; insurance is expensive," said Nikita Cervantes, who brought in her daughter Zaelynn for a checkup on Wednesday. "I have three children, so trying to get insurance right now is pretty hard."
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation.
At Lirios Pediatrics, their goal is to act as a medical home for those who don’t have other options, and for those who do, they want to help them take advantage of the benefits they may qualify for.
"They have to know how to access them. They have to know how to fill out the paperwork," said Simmons. "If English isn't your first language, if your health care literacy isn't strong, it’s difficult. It's a difficult system even for me."
Lirios Pediatrics relies heavily on grant money, donations of goods and services and corporate partnerships.
To learn more about supporting Lirios Pediatrics, click here. For regular updates, visit their Facebook page.