For years, many people who live on San Antonio’s East Side have bemoaned the lack of accessible, quality medical care. University Health System’s newest clinic addresses that concern.

Hundreds of people gathered on a two-acre plot of land near I-35 and Walters Street to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new healthcare clinic. Mark Webb, CEO of Pediatric Services for University Health System, said the facility will provide much-needed services for children and adults.

Credit Wendy Rigby / Texas Public Radio / Texas Public Radio The new UHS clinic will be situated on San Antonio's east side near the intersection of I-35 and Walters Street.

"As populations grow and as San Antonio grows, we need to add more healthcare resources to this part of town," Webb stated.

The San Antonio Housing Authority provided the land free of charge to the hospital district.

Webb said the new center is expected to open in late 2017.

"The clinic is going to be a prototype clinic for us, healthcare at the right place, right time, at the right cost," Webb said. "It will be very efficient with providing that healthcare."

Credit University Health System / University Health System The new clinic will bear the name of Dr. Robert L.M. Hilliard, a pioneering San Antonio African American physician.

The namesake of the new family health center is a pioneering African American doctor Robert Hilliard, MD, the first black physician in the South to become chief resident of the obstetrics and gynecology department of any major teaching hospital.

For people who live in the Bexar County Hospital District, this $5 million project is their tax dollars at work.