On San Antonio’s South Side, a shuttered school is getting a second act as home base for an ambitious health experiment. A newly formed nonprofit, the Center for Health Empowerment in South Texas, or CHEST, has moved into the campus with a sweeping goal: help chip away at the decades long life expectancy gap between the city’s north and south by turning the site into a neighborhood hub for care, careers and community groups.
New HQ And Seed Money
CHEST was formed at the end of 2024 and named former District 4 councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia as president and CEO in July, according to San Antonio Report. The nonprofit secured a lease with South San ISD for a closed CARE Zone building at 419 Lovett Ave and is bringing in partners that will share classrooms and community space. It launched with $10,000 in seed money from Dr. Lyssa Ochoa and a temporary $300,000 city grant intended to support operations over two years.
Founders Point To Worsening Outcomes
"I saw patients as young as their 30s with uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes," Dr. Lyssa Ochoa said, explaining why organizers created CHEST. Ochoa, who founded the San Antonio Vascular and Endovascular Clinic in 2018, told San Antonio Report that diabetes related amputations increased after the 2023 closure of Texas Vista Medical Center, a trend organizers hope to reverse with better local access and prevention work.
Local Hub Next To A Major Hospital Build
CHEST’s grassroots setup is meant to sit alongside much larger investments on the South Side. University Health opened its Vida multispecialty clinic in January and says a full service Palo Alto Hospital on the adjacent campus is on track to open in 2027. As detailed by University Health, Vida brings urgent care, primary care and mental health services closer to neighborhoods that previously lacked them.
Strategy: Careers, Partners And Incentives
CHEST's playbook mixes workforce pipelines, affordable space for community organizations and targeted advocacy to attract clinics and providers to the South Side, according to the group's mission statement. The effort has drawn support from city leaders, with council members proposing the reallocation of ARPA funds to help seed the work, and related city releases framing it as part of a broader push to address social determinants of health. As outlined by CHEST and in a City of San Antonio news release, organizers hope to build local career pathways so residents can both get care and become the next generation of caregivers.
The Space And The Timeline
The headquarters sits in a former South San ISD CARE Zone annex behind a closed elementary school and is slated to include a food pantry, counseling rooms, an open air basketball court and community gardens. The district approved a lease that public reporting said runs about $2,500 a month for three years, and CHEST leaders told Texas Public Radio they are preparing the building for partners and expect a ribbon cutting this winter or early spring.
If CHEST can turn a small, low cost campus into steady services and local career pipelines, organizers say it will be one concrete way to chip away at a life expectancy difference that in some ZIP codes spans decades. The work comes with obvious tests, including sustained funding, measurable clinical outcomes and local hiring, but CHEST leaders and partners argue the timing is right with University Health expanding on the South Side.
