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About Our Clinic

Our History

The Clinic's history is a reflection of Austin's — from hippies to households. It was founded as People's Free Clinic in 1970 in the basement of the Congregational Church on Guadalupe across from the UT campus, by a handful of visionary volunteer doctors and nurses. Initially, the Clinic served mostly college students and part-time workers, but today the demand for affordable primary care is much greater. The Clinic now employs more than 80 medical and administrative personnel in addition to many volunteers. Then, as now, the Clinic is dedicated to improving the health of an increasing number of working Central Texas families.

11,000 patients call People's Community Clinic their medical home. The Clinic is a unique and tested model for medical care, a true safety net for Central Texas' uninsured and medically underserved. People's Community Clinic offers a greater variety of health and wellness services than any other not-for-profit clinic in Austin, services ranging from prenatal through eldercare.

Read more and see how we have evolved into the organization we are today. (Image courtesy Alan Pogue - The line outside the People's Free Clinic, 1972)

1970: People's Free Clinic is established by a group of volunteer doctors and nurses in the basement of the Congregational Church off Guadalupe (the "Drag") across from the University of Texas. In the early years, the Clinic operated two nights of the week and prospective patients lined up around the block for services.

1972: First Federal grant for women's health and family planning services received.

1974: City awards grant for general medicine services; County awards funding for prenatal care services. People's Free Clinic changes its name to People's Community Clinic.

1982: Clinic hours: 6:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., four evenings per week. Budget: $304,000. Clinic staff: 18 full-time; 2 part-time; 80 volunteers.

1985: PCC initiates one of Texas' first HIV counseling and testing programs and in 1986 we provide leadership in establishing the first HIV Commission. PCC hires its first full-time physician medical director. Service hours are expanded from 20 to 40 hours per week. Computers are installed for electronic data collection, appointments, and billing.

1990: More than 14,000 visits provided annually.  PCC moves to our current building at 2909 North IH 35, initiating a $1.5 million capital campaign to purchase and expand the facility. St. David's Health Care System provides funding for three weekly evening clinics to serve the working poor.

1992: St. David's increases support to fund five evening clinics per week. Care is now provided 12 hours per day, Monday - Friday. The Clinic also wins its first "Best of" award from the Austin Chronicle for “Best Public Healthcare,” as it will do again in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

1993: PCC purchases the facility at 2909 North IH 35. The Clinic is named the 60th Anniversary project of the Junior League. The Center for Adolescent Health is established. Walk-in immunization services are implemented five days per week.

1994: Weekly off-site clinic established to provide homeless teens with medical and prevention services. Services are provided in collaboration with Youth Options (now the Lifeworks Street Outreach Clinic).

1996: Renovation and expansion completed. In collaboration with the American Institute for Learning (now American YouthWorks) the Center for Adolescent Health establishes the RGK Downtown Center for Health. St. David's Community Health Foundation names PCC as its first major recipient of funds.

1997: Teen prenatal clinic is established. Pediatric medical director is hired.

1998: St. David's Community Health Foundation funds the Tandem Teen Prenatal and Parenting Project. The budget for the Clinic is $2.6 million.

1999: Volunteer Specialty Referral Program initiated to provide PCC patients with extended consultative evaluation and treatment services. The budget for the Clinic grows to $3.1 million.

2002: PCC, at the invitation of leading Georgetown citizens, initiates services at the Georgetown Community Clinic. People's Community Clinic's budget is $4.1 million with 77 full and part-time staff. A three-year, $10 million Capacity Campaign launched, led by the Nowlin Family's $1 million lead gift. The Board, with 100% participation, contributes $705,000.

2003: A Clinic-wide Re-Envisioning and Quality Improvement program is initiated, with a goal of increasing patient visits by 20%. Regina Rogoff, JD, becomes Executive Director. Patient visits total 37,062 with a $4.5 million budget.

2004: The Clinic is named the recipient of the proceeds from the Statesman Capitol 10,000 for what will be the first of an unprecedented four year partnership, 2004 -2007. A six-month renovation of the Clinic's facility is completed on schedule and under budget. The Clinic Reunion and Open House celebrates the renovations and the 34-year history of the Clinic. The budget reaches $4.9 million.

2005: The Clinic is awarded the Samaritan Center's Ethics in Business Award in the non-profit category. The highly successful Capacity Campaign comes to a close after raising more than $5.5 million. Other milestones include the launching of the East Austin Community Health Promoters, the receipt of the first major federal grant for the Center for Adolescent Health’s Goals Program, and the adoption of a disease registry to monitor several types of chronic illness among patients. The budget reaches $5.2 million.

2006: The Clinic accomplishes the 2003 Strategic Plan goal of increasing the number of patient visits by 20% by providing over 45,000 visits in 2006. The Chronic Disease Management Program is established to improve the health of patients with conditions such as diabetes. With funding from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and the St David’s Community Health Foundation, PCC also launches the Integrated Behavioral Health Initiative. Recruiting 100 donors to give $1,000 each on a sustained basis, the “Council of 100” is kicked off in the last quarter of 2007. The budget reaches $5.7 million.

2007: For the fourth year in a row, PCC is the beneficiary of the Austin American Statesman’s Capital 10K race and funds are used to launch a Health Literacy Initiative. Patient visits total 46,994. The budget reaches $6.0 million.

2008: Using the “Centering Pregnancy” curriculum, the Clinic begins offering group prenatal visits in the evenings. The evaluation of the Clinic’s IBH initiative demonstrates that the program is highly successful in treating patients with mild to moderate symptoms, as well as being very cost effective. The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce presents People's Community Clinic with the 2008 Non-Profit Leadership Award. The budget reaches $6.7 million.