Austin Regional Clinic expands specialty care to meet demand

Editor's note: The opening timeline for the Austin Regional Clinic's Lockhart location was updated.

In smaller communities and cities around the Greater Austin area, demand for health care specialists has risen at a rate unmatched by access to professionals. Patients often face long wait times for appointments as well, said Ashley Price, Austin Regional Clinic's vice president of operations.

Austin Regional Clinic, or ARC, is expanding its specialty services both north and south of Austin to provide unique care to residents in the surrounding cities.

Current situation

Access to health care specialists in Central Texas can be a barrier for residents seeking medical care, Price said. While cities neighboring Austin are growing rapidly, the nation faces a shortage of both primary care physicians and specialists.

“Coming from a small town myself, patients often travel farther to reach specialty care, and once they do, wait times usually can be long,” Price said. “Demand is growing so quickly across Central Texas, so availability can vary depending on the specialty and the location.”

Specialists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants with ARC travel to multiple clinic locations to meet patients where there is a need, so they are not required to journey into Austin for care, Price said.

ARC’s orthopedic spine surgeon, Dr. Akshay Yadhati, and his physician assistants travel between North, Central and South Austin to see patients. In 2026, he performed the city’s first next-gen robotic-navigated spinal fusion and first endoscopic spine surgery, two minimally invasive procedures that emphasize patient care with new technologies.

“We, over the last 45 years, have really tried to grow with the community,” Price said. “We try to help spread our specialists and rotate them out through our outlying clinics one or more days a week.”

ARC consistently works to recruit specialty physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants so care can be expanded as the region grows, Price said. The clinic works with health care organizations and specialty groups throughout Central Texas to coordinate specialty care that ARC does not directly offer.

The clinic offers a virtual urgent care platform to provide patients access when they are not geographically close to a needed service. NormanMD is a 24/7 service that helps patients determine if they need to be seen in person, how quickly they need to be seen and which specialty care they might need.

The specifics

ARC opened the Greenlawn Specialty clinic in Round Rock on Jan. 19. The clinic offers specialty and surgical care, including:

• Audiology
• Ear, Nose and Throat, or ENT
• General surgery
• Orthopedics
• Orthopedic sports medicine
• Podiatry
• Lab and radiology

ARC is further expanding with two clinic openings scheduled for June, Price said. A new clinic in Lockhart will open this winter, and ARC South Specialty in South Austin will open in stages beginning June 1.

ARC South Specialty will be located at the South Medical Campus, along with ARC South 1st Pediatrics, ARC South 1st and ARC Surgery Center South. The specialty clinic will feature various services, including:

• Allergy and asthma
• Audiology
• Cardiology
• Dermatology
• ENT
• General surgery
• OLINO Medical Aesthetics
• Neurology
• Orthopedics
• Podiatry
• Rheumatology
• Sports medicine