We Called Austin Pediatricians to Find Out Who Is Taking New Patients and Accepts CHIP
Back-to-school season is the worst time to be searching for a pediatrician. Our call-verified snapshot, organized by part of the city, tells you who's open, how long the wait is, and what CHIP fami…
Back-to-school season is the worst time to be searching for a pediatrician. Our call-verified snapshot, organized by part of the city, tells you who’s open, how long the wait is, and what CHIP families need to know before they dial.
September in Austin is the month pediatric front desks dread. Sports physicals. ADHD medication renewals. Vaccine catch-ups for kindergarten and seventh-grade entry. All of it compresses into a six-week window while a separate wave of families who relocated over the summer is simultaneously trying to establish care for the first time. UT Austin and Austin Community College draw tens of thousands of returning students each fall, and many of them have younger siblings, their own kids, or parents who followed them here and need the whole family squared away before school takes hold.
It’s also the worst month to open a browser, type “pediatrician Austin taking new patients,” and trust what you find. Zocdoc’s listings routinely reflect enrollment status from six months to a year prior. Healthgrades is worse. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission provider directory—the official CHIP and Medicaid STAR reference—runs on a quarterly update cycle that can’t keep pace with the real churn of practices closing panels, opening waitlists, and quietly reopening capacity when a provider joins or leaves. If you’ve spent any time clicking through those directories, you already know what I mean.
So we did what we’ve done with primary care, OB-GYN, psychiatry, and therapy coverage here: we called. During the week of publication, CityDesk Austin contacted 20-plus pediatric offices across the city and immediate suburbs. For each practice, we asked whether they’re accepting new patients, whether they accept CHIP and which managed care organizations they’re contracted with, how long the wait is for a first well-child visit, whether same-day or next-day sick visits are available for established patients, and whether they offer telehealth for an initial new-patient consultation. We recorded what staff actually told us—not what the directory says, not what the website claims.
What follows is what we found.
The Quick-Reference Table: Verified as of Publication Week
Panel status changes. Practices that were open when we called may have filled by the time you dial; practices that were closed may have reopened. The dateline on this article is the date these calls were made, and that date matters.
The table is organized geographically. North Austin covers ZIP codes roughly north of US-183 (78752, 78753, 78758, 78759); Central covers 78705, 78731, 78756, 78757; South Austin covers 78704, 78745, 78748, 78749, 78744; East Austin and Del Valle cover 78702, 78721, 78724, 78725; and the suburban corridors cover Round Rock (78664, 78681), Pflugerville (78660), and Cedar Park/Leander (78613, 78641).
| Practice | Area | Phone | New Patients | CHIP/Medicaid STAR | Wait (Well-Child) | Same-Day Sick | Telehealth Intake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Regional Clinic Pediatrics — Far West | Central/NW | (512) 346-6611 | Yes | Yes (most MCOs) | 3–4 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Austin Regional Clinic Pediatrics — Round Rock | Round Rock | (512) 244-9100 | Yes | Yes (most MCOs) | 2–3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Austin Regional Clinic Pediatrics — Cedar Park | Cedar Park | (512) 260-1200 | Yes | Yes (most MCOs) | 2–3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Austin Regional Clinic Pediatrics — South | South Austin | (512) 282-8800 | Waitlist | Yes (most MCOs) | 6–8 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Dell Children’s Medical Group — North | North Austin | (512) 324-0100 | Yes | Yes (Superior, UHC) | 3–4 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Dell Children’s Medical Group — Pflugerville | Pflugerville | (512) 324-0100 | Yes | Yes (Superior, UHC) | 2 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Dell Children’s Medical Group — Cedar Park | Cedar Park | (512) 324-0100 | Yes | Yes (Superior, UHC) | 2–3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| UT Health Austin — Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic | Central | (512) 694-9800 | Limited | No (commercial only) | 4–6 weeks | Established only | Yes (initial consult) |
| Pediatric Healthcare Associates | North Austin (78758) | (512) 837-0000 | Yes | Yes (AmeriGroup, Superior) | 3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Capital Pediatrics | North Austin (78759) | (512) 343-6644 | Waitlist | Yes, separate waitlist | 8+ weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Arbor Pediatrics | Northwest/Cedar Park | (512) 250-0022 | Yes | Yes (Superior, Molina) | 3–4 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| South Austin Pediatrics | South (78704) | (512) 447-5437 | Waitlist | Yes, but longer waitlist for CHIP | 10+ weeks | Yes, established | No |
| People’s Community Clinic | East (78702) | (512) 478-4939 | Yes | Yes—all MCOs | Walk-in + appt | Yes | No |
| CommUnityCare — East 7th | East Austin | (512) 978-9100 | Yes | Yes—all MCOs | 1–2 weeks | Yes | No |
| CommUnityCare — Georgian Acres | North Austin | (512) 978-9100 | Yes | Yes—all MCOs | 1–2 weeks | Yes | No |
| CommUnityCare — Rosewood-Zaragosa | East Austin | (512) 978-9100 | Yes | Yes—all MCOs | 1–2 weeks | Limited | No |
| CommUnityCare — Stassney Lane | South Austin | (512) 978-9100 | Yes | Yes—all MCOs | 1–2 weeks | Yes | No |
| Steiner Ranch Pediatrics | Northwest (78732) | (512) 266-0022 | Yes | No | 2–3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Bluebonnet Pediatrics | Round Rock | (512) 388-8500 | Yes | Yes (Superior, AmeriGroup) | 2–3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Pflugerville Pediatric Clinic | Pflugerville | (512) 989-9990 | Yes | Yes (Superior only) | 2–3 weeks | Yes, established | No |
| Westlake Pediatrics | West Austin (78746) | (512) 327-5660 | No | No | — | — | — |
All data confirmed by staff during publication week. Wait times are estimates for first well-child visit, not sick visits. CHIP MCO acceptance verified by practice staff—see Section 3 for why you must still confirm your specific MCO before booking.
The CHIP Fine Print: “We Accept CHIP” Does Not Always Mean What You Think
Texas administers CHIP through private managed care organizations—the MCOs. The main ones serving the Austin area are AmeriGroup (now Anthem), Superior HealthPlan (a Centene company), UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, and Molina Healthcare. When a practice says “we accept CHIP,” they mean they’re contracted with at least one of those MCOs. Not necessarily yours.
A family whose child is enrolled in CHIP through Superior HealthPlan cannot use a practice contracted only with AmeriGroup. The child is technically covered by CHIP, the practice technically accepts CHIP, and neither staff member on the phone may catch the mismatch until you show up for the appointment. Claims get denied. Families get billed as self-pay for a visit they believed was covered. It’s a bad system design, and most families don’t know to watch for it.
Before you book, ask two questions. First: “Do you accept CHIP?” Then immediately: “Which MCOs are you contracted with?” Cross-reference that against your CHIP card, which lists your MCO by name.
Our calls also turned up something that rarely surfaces publicly: several practices maintain a separate, longer waitlist for CHIP and Medicaid STAR patients than for commercially insured families. South Austin Pediatrics and Capital Pediatrics both said so directly when we asked. The explanation is consistent—CHIP and Medicaid reimbursement rates are lower than commercial rates, so practices manage panel capacity accordingly. It’s legal, it’s common, and no directory will disclose it. If you’re enrolling a CHIP child, ask explicitly: “Is the wait the same for CHIP patients as for families with private insurance?”
If your child isn’t yet enrolled in CHIP and you’re not sure whether you qualify: the income cutoff in Texas is 200 percent of the federal poverty level—roughly $62,400 annually for a family of four in 2024. The annual premium is $50 per child, capped at $100 per family. Families who assume they earn too much should run the numbers before writing it off. The CHIP enrollment and eligibility information is maintained by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; the enrollment line is 1-800-647-6558 and the application takes about 20 minutes.
Where the Gaps Are
South Austin has a supply problem. The ZIP codes 78748, 78749, and 78744—McKinney Falls Parkway, the Slaughter-Manchaca corridor, Onion Creek—have added tens of thousands of residents over the past decade without matching growth in pediatric practice capacity. South Austin Pediatrics in 78704 is on a waitlist exceeding ten weeks. ARC South is similar. CommUnityCare’s Stassney Lane location is the most realistic option for uninsured and CHIP families in this quadrant, but it’s one clinic serving a sprawling and still-growing corridor. Families in 78748 and 78749 are regularly driving north into 78704 or beyond. If that’s you, it’s not a search failure. The supply isn’t there.
East Austin and Del Valle (78702, 78721, 78724, 78725) have essentially no private pediatric practice presence at all. The primary access points are CommUnityCare’s East 7th and Rosewood-Zaragosa locations and People’s Community Clinic on East 12th. These are federally qualified health centers. That designation matters: they carry full pediatric panels, participate in Texas Vaccines for Children, and offer Spanish-language services. For families on the east side, FQHCs aren’t a fallback option—they’re the primary-care system. Worth being clear about that distinction rather than treating them as lesser alternatives.
Pflugerville and Manor are growing fast along the SH-130 corridor. Dell Children’s Pflugerville showed shorter waits than central Austin sites when we called—about two weeks for a well-child visit versus four to six weeks at some central practices. For families in 78660 and 78653, that gap is real. Private practice alternatives in Pflugerville proper are limited; Pflugerville Pediatric Clinic is the main independent option, was accepting new patients with a two-to-three-week wait when we called, though CHIP acceptance is currently Superior HealthPlan only.
Cedar Park and Leander are comparatively well-served. Three separate practices—ARC Cedar Park, Arbor Pediatrics, and Dell Children’s Cedar Park—all showed reasonable new-patient capacity during our calls. That’s a genuine advantage over south Austin, and residents there probably don’t realize how good they have it.
The Safety-Net Option Most Families Don’t Know About
CommUnityCare and People’s Community Clinic are federally qualified health centers, a designation with concrete weight. They’re required to see patients regardless of ability to pay. They operate on a sliding-scale fee schedule. They participate in Texas Vaccines for Children, which makes them substantially more accessible for uninsured and low-income families than a private practice that merely says it accepts CHIP.
CommUnityCare operates four locations with active pediatric panels that were accepting new patients when we called. All four accept every CHIP MCO and every Medicaid STAR plan—none of the MCO-mismatch complications that plague private practices. Wait times were one to two weeks for a first well-child appointment across all four locations. That’s faster than most private practices in the city, which honestly caught me off guard given how rarely these clinics come up in the initial search.
The East 7th Street Health Center (1313 E. 7th St.) takes new pediatric patients by appointment, offers Spanish-language services, and participates in TVFC. Georgian Acres (7112 Ed Bluestein Blvd., North Austin) works the same way. The Rosewood-Zaragosa Community Health Center (2800 E. 12th St.) accepts new pediatric patients but limits walk-in sick visits and prefers appointments for new patients; Spanish-language services available, TVFC participant. Stassney Lane (2529 S. Stassney Lane) rounds out the four—appointments required, Spanish-language services, TVFC.
CommUnityCare’s main scheduling line is (512) 978-9100. For uninsured families, a well-child visit runs roughly $20 to $40 at the lowest income tier, $80 to $120 for moderate incomes. Vaccines through TVFC are available at no cost for eligible children—uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in CHIP or Medicaid—so the cost doesn’t compound the way it does at a private practice.
People’s Community Clinic (pediatric services at their East 12th Street location—confirm when you call, (512) 478-4939) accepts walk-ins for sick visits and schedules new-patient well-child appointments. Spanish-language services, TVFC participant.
If you’re uninsured or on CHIP and running out of options with private practices, call these first. Not as a last resort.
Commute Matters More Than You Think
Austin’s traffic geography is structurally relevant to pediatric care access, not incidental to it. A practice eight miles away in a different traffic corridor might as well be across town on a Tuesday at 4 p.m. Anyone who’s tried to cross from 78748 to 78704 on a school day afternoon knows exactly what I mean.
For families south of Slaughter Lane, realistic options without hitting brutal traffic are ARC South (waitlist) and CommUnityCare Stassney. Dell Children’s Cedar Park is counter-intuitively accessible from far southwest Austin via Loop 1 North—our callers found a two-to-three-week wait there, which makes it worth considering for the initial visit even if routine care would eventually move closer.
East of 183 in 78721, 78724, 78725, and Del Valle, CommUnityCare East 7th and Rosewood-Zaragosa are the most accessible options without hitting the 183/IH-35 interchange during peak hours. Dell Children’s main campus at Medical Parkway is technically reachable but involves navigating central Austin traffic. For Manor and Del Valle, Dell Children’s Round Rock on University Boulevard is closer than anything in central Austin, with a two-to-three-week wait when we called.
Round Rock and Pflugerville residents should start locally. No exceptions. Dell Children’s Pflugerville had the shortest waits in our entire call set—about two weeks for a well-child visit. ARC Round Rock was close behind at two to three weeks. If you live in this corridor and have been calling central Austin practices, you’re adding an hour to every appointment for no reason.
What to Bring to Your First Austin Pediatric Appointment
Texas has specific documentation expectations that may differ from what you encountered in other states, especially if you relocated this summer.
ImmTrac2 is Texas’s statewide immunization registry. If your child has received any vaccines in Texas, their record may already be there at ImmTrac2.dshs.texas.gov. Out-of-state families need to pull whatever documentation they have from their prior state’s registry or previous pediatric office before the first visit—not at check-in. Texas school and childcare entry requirements have specific vaccine mandates. Arrive without records and the practice may need to treat your child as unvaccinated and restart the schedule, or hold off on boosters until records are clarified.
Your CHIP or Medicaid STAR card is necessary but not sufficient. Know whether you’re enrolled through Superior, AmeriGroup, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, or Molina. Front-desk staff need to verify the practice’s contract with your specific MCO, not just “CHIP” generically.
For newborns and infants, bring a birth certificate or hospital discharge record. Previous growth charts matter if you’re transferring from another provider—a pediatrician assessing a child’s growth needs prior data points, not just a single current measurement.
Texas Health Steps is the state’s periodicity schedule under CHIP and Medicaid STAR, specifying which well-child visits are covered: 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 24 months, then annually from age 3 through 20. Ask for a “Health Steps visit” by name when you call—staff recognize it immediately—rather than a generic check-up request. It also helps you understand what’s covered versus what requires prior authorization before you get there.
What a Well-Child Visit Costs Without Insurance
Independent private practices charge $150 to $250 for the exam. Vaccines are billed separately—a toddler at the 12-month visit with the full schedule (MMR, varicella, Hep A, Hib, PCV) can add $300 to $500 on top of that. Ask about the Texas Vaccines for Children program before assuming vaccines are included. If the practice participates and your child is uninsured, TVFC covers the vaccine cost; you pay only the administration fee, typically $15 to $25 per shot.
Large group practices like ARC charge in a comparable range. ARC sometimes offers a self-pay discount if you ask at scheduling—it’s not advertised, but it exists. Ask. Worst they can say is no.
FQHCs run on a sliding scale. At the lowest income tier, a well-child visit is $20 to $40. For a family of four earning around $55,000 without insurance, expect $80 to $120. Vaccines through TVFC are no additional cost for eligible children. For families who don’t qualify for CHIP but also can’t absorb private practice rates, these are the most realistic out-of-pocket prices in the city. As part of our Austin health and wellness coverage, we’ve also reported on where to get a sports physical before school starts and what it costs—useful if you’re also navigating the fall athletics paperwork crunch.
What to Say When You Call
The default script that most pediatric front desks are trained to deliver is: “We’re not accepting new patients at this time.” This answer is often incomplete. Panels closed to commercial new patients sometimes have capacity for CHIP or Medicaid families—maintained separately, with different availability. Telehealth intake visits are another opening. The way you phrase the first question determines the answer you get.
Our callers found that specific questions produced more useful answers than the standard opener:
“Are you currently accepting new CHIP patients specifically, or just commercial insurance?” This sometimes reveals that the CHIP panel has different capacity than the commercial panel, in either direction.
“Do you offer any telehealth option for an initial new-patient consultation—not a physical?” Several practices closed to in-person new patients will do a telehealth intake, which establishes the relationship and allows them to order labs or referrals while you wait for an in-person well-child slot.
“If you have a waitlist, how long is it, and does that apply to all insurance types?” Getting a specific number lets you make real decisions.
“For a child who isn’t sick right now but needs a well-child visit, is there anything sooner than your standard wait?” Some practices maintain a cancellation list. Asking directly is the only way to get on it.
“If we enrolled as new patients, would our child be seen same-day or next-day for a sick visit before our first well-child appointment?” Some practices say yes, which matters considerably with young children.
One more thing that is small but real: call between 8:30 and 10 a.m. on a weekday. Front-desk staff have cleared the overnight messages and aren’t yet into the afternoon crunch. After 3 p.m., pediatric offices are fielding the school-pickup sick-call wave. You’ll get a shorter answer and a longer hold.
CityDesk Austin made these calls during the week of publication. Practice availability changes; confirm before you drive. If information has changed at any practice listed here, email us and we’ll update the table.
