In the spring of 1980, the population of Austin was 345,496 and a trip to the country to see the blooming wild flowers meant driving to a small community like Cedar Park, Pflugerville or Round Rock. With new construction on the Congress Avenue bridge recently completed, the first bats arrived to build what has become one of the largest urban bat colonies in the world.

Highway 183 with its multiple overpasses and wide lanes as we know it today was a two-lane country road and Whole Foods Market was about to open the first small store at 10th and Lamar.

At that time, Austin's health care community consisted mostly of solo and small group practices. Health care delivery throughout the United States was changing in response to employers demanding relief from the spiraling cost of health care. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) began to spring up across the country with the expectation that they could help to slow the increasing cost of care.

Austin Regional Clinic opened its doors during this time of industry transformation. The growth and success of ARC has kept pace with the growth and expansion of Austin and the surrounding areas. The medical group was founded by family practitioner Norman Chenven, M.D., who invited pediatricians Thomas Zavaleta, M.D. and Carol Faget, M.D. to join him in establishing what is now the largest multi-specialty group practice in the metropolitan area.

This small group of physicians took the unprecedented action of entering into a partnership with PruCare, which was Prudential Insurance Company's experiment in developing Austin's first health plan and health maintenance organization. ARC's original mission - to provide access to quality, affordable medical care - has remained the same even as ARC has grown, the community has thrived, and advancements in medical science have flourished.

As its patient base grew, so did the vision for the organization. The three founding physicians envisioned a medical group that would be broadly available to the entire Austin community. They recruited new physicians to the group and opened new facilities throughout the city. ARC was distinguished from most other practices by offering services and conveniences that smaller practices could not afford to offer, and by establishing a system of quality assurance that ensured a high standard of care throughout the organization. Throughout the 1980s, ARC continued to grow and gain the loyalty of Austin residents.

The economic boom of the 1990s effected a change on the health care community and marked a turning point in the way Austin Regional Clinic did business. As the public began to value health care choice over savings, ARC made another risky decision that resulted in the greatest period of change for the organization.

In 1993 ARC terminated its contract with PruCare and negotiated new agreements with a wide selection of health plans. This change meant that patients had the option of staying with their ARC physicians regardless of the health plan that their employer might choose. The result was that when free to choose their own physicians, over 90% of our patients continued to see their ARC doctors.

Now, in 2007, our multi-specialty medical group prides itself on our continued commitment to providing access to quality health care for the growing metropolitan population. ARC provides access in terms of number of locations, variety of health plans accepted, hours of operation, timeliness of appointments and the ability to talk to a medical professional any time. ARC focuses on quality through such programs as peer reviews, chart audits and efficiency initiatives.

ARC patients, now numbering 240,000 or about 15% of Austin-area residents, can visit any of ARC's 18 locations in Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Hutto and Pflugerville. Offering choice, ARC works with approximately 50 health plans and many government programs including Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare. Responding to patient needs, ARC provides same-day access, urgent care appointments, after hours availability on weekends and holidays, as well as an all-night phone advice center. Making healthcare easier, patients enjoy the convenience of on-site lab and x-ray at most ARC locations and online services on the ARC web site.

Expanding its areas of expertise, it offers medical care in pediatrics, family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, allergy and immunology, dermatology, endocrinology, ENT, podiatry, physical therapy, rheumatology and nutritional counseling.

Focusing on quality, ARC prides itself on its disease management programs and much emulated physician peer review program, designed to monitor and continuously improve the overall quality of care for the patients ARC serves.

ARC physicians contribute to the greater good of the community by volunteering their time to hospital staff activities and committees. ARC physicians donate innumerable hours of professional time with direct service charity clinics in Austin and medical missions abroad.

The physicians and staff of ARC look forward to the future expansion of facilities, services and specialties for our city and surrounding communities.