Starting Monday, businesses in Travis County and the city of Austin will have to post a sign indicating whether employees and customers need to wear a mask, show a negative Covid-19 test or be vaccinated against the virus. City of Austin/Travis County. A template of the notice Austin and Travis County are asking businesses to […]
Public Health
Posted inPublic Health
County seeks to expand mental health care for those facing incarceration
Nearly 20 percent of inmates booked into Travis County jails in September 2021 needed mental health treatment, but a month after their incarceration, only a third of them were receiving the needed treatment. That was the conclusion reached by Dr. Steve Strakowski, associate vice president for regional mental health at Dell Medical School, who examined the planning […]
Posted inPublic Health
City urges high-risk people to avoid gatherings as Austin moves to Stage 5 Covid precautions
Lee esta historia en español. Austin and Travis County are back at the highest stage of Austin Public Health’s Covid-19 community risk guidance as the omicron variant of the coronavirus has caused a surge of new infections and hospitalizations. The health agency reports the area’s community transmission rate – the number of new cases per […]
Posted inPublic Health
Researchers at Dell Med are studying psychedelics as treatment for severe depression, anxiety and PTSD
The Dell Medical School at UT Austin is launching a research center focused on studying the therapeutic effects of psychedelics, which are drugs that affect an individual’s state of consciousness, including psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and ayahuasca. Researchers say the center’s goal will be to come up with possible treatment plans and options for people suffering […]
Posted inPublic Health
County renews agreement for substance use treatment services
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved and ratified an amendment to the substance use disorder managed services agreement for the 2022 fiscal year. The interlocal agreement between the city, the county and Integral Care is aimed at contracting for substance use treatment services, and has been in effect since 1999. “It was developed […]
Posted inPublic Health
Council extends masking rules to June
After hearing from Dr. Desmar Walkes, health authority for Austin-Travis County, at a joint meeting with the Travis County Commissioners Court Tuesday, City Council voted to extend the current health authority rules until June 10, 2022. Commissioners also acted to extend their rules. Under those rules, students, staff and visitors older than 2 years are […]
Posted inPublic Health
New collaborative hopes to address equity gaps in Austin’s response to homelessness
Austin has consistently struggled to get people living outdoors into homes. Part of that failure lies in the city’s unprecedented real estate boom and affordability crisis over the last 10 years. Another reason is that people of color, who are overrepresented among Austin’s homeless population, haven’t been able to connect with housing and case management as easily […]
Posted inPublic Health
Equity study attempts to mitigate long-standing health disparities
A new report by a city-appointed firm found that local medical and emergency service providers could do more to help address sharp health disparities in East and West Austin. The equity study, which was completed this summer by Public Consulting Group, examined Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services and the Austin Fire Department with an eye toward […]
Posted inPublic Health
Resilience hub initiative continues to evolve
Winter Storm Uri, the extreme weather event that left an unknown number of Austin residents dead last February, inspired the initiative to create resilience hubs across the city that would act as a public resource in times of crisis. The initial idea of creating two centers independent of the energy grid to pilot the initiative has […]
Posted inPublic Health
Council votes to protect rights of intersex children
Austin is one of the first cities in the South Central U.S. to pass a resolution formally condemning non-consensual and medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. “There is an ‘I’ in LGBTQIA – it stands for intersex,” Mayor Pro-Tem Natasha Harper-Madison said at City Council’s Oct. 21 meeting. “Approximately 2 percent of people are born […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin moves down to Stage 3 of Covid-19 guidelines as local hospital admissions and cases slow
Lee esta historia en español. Austin Public Health is moving down to Stage 3 of its Covid-19 guidance, as cases and hospitalizations continue to decline. “We’ve had a decline in the number of cases, and we are seeing a gradual reduction in the numbers of people in hospital, in ICU and with ventilator use,” Austin-Travis […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin, Travis County move back to Stage 4 Covid-19 guidelines
Austin-Travis County health officials have scaled back their Covid-19 risk-based guidelines to Stage 4 as cases and hospitalizations have steadily decreased. Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County health authority, credits mitigation efforts such as masking and vaccinations for the improvements. “The behaviors that have been undertaken by our community to get our numbers of cases down have been […]