Dell Medical, the University of Texas’ new medical school, wants Travis County residents to know it is spending their tax dollars wisely – and equitably. In 2012, voters approved $54 million of new property taxes to build Dell Med in conjunction with $85 million of matching local and federal funds. Construction of the school’s facilities […]
Public Health
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Growing opioid abuse crisis draws push for budget requests, partnerships
Looking to head off a public health issue that was repeatedly referred to as a growing crisis, City Council voted Thursday to take the first steps to combat an increase in deaths and abuse of the opioid family of drugs and pharmaceuticals. The unanimous vote came after members of Austin’s music and artistic community reported […]
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Dell Med School using grant money for population, teen mental health
A grant of nearly $1 million from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation is paying for a pair of programs at the University of Texas’ Dell Medical School that will attempt to advance treatment of teenage mental health and the societal factors that impact the health of much of the Austin area’s 2 million residents. […]
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Drug cases pinch SIMS budget as local opioid abuse grows
A surge in substance abuse cases, specifically opioids, in Austin’s music community has put one of Austin’s most well-known music nonprofits in financial trouble and on the lookout for public and private dollars to combat a growing health crisis. The SIMS Foundation, which provides mental health services, including drug and alcohol abuse treatment, to Austin […]
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Review points the way for Central Health improvements
A recent study of Central Health’s services and performance for the Austin area has recommended that the agency take further steps to improve health care access for all residents – especially marginalized communities – as well as toward improving its outreach and messaging around its purpose, and stepping up its efforts to secure federal grants […]
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New rules for Central Health don’t satisfy critics
The Travis County Commissioners Court has concluded another chapter in the extended controversy over Central Health, but one of the hospital district’s lead critics says he is not ready to quit. On Tuesday, the court amended the district’s financial policy framework by which Central Health must operate. Among other things, the framework’s 13 directives call […]
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Med school seeks more ideas in helping distressed residents’ health
The Dell Medical School at the University of Texas is making another attempt to solicit ideas from Austin residents about how to address chronic and sometimes hidden health problems throughout the city. The school’s Center For Place-Based Initiatives announced its second “call for ideas” last month while also highlighting some of the 95 ideas that […]
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Austin health insurance group’s federal funds cut
In Washington, D.C., supporters of repealing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, are putting pressure on a few Republican senators who may or may not go along with that legislation. The Senate has until Sept. 30 to pass the legislation or they will have to start all over. And in Austin, two organizations are […]
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Central Health evaluation targets care delivery, med school transparency
To indulge in an extended health care metaphor, one could compare the extensive evaluation Central Health has commissioned to a very public checkup where anyone with any interest in the condition of the community health organization gets a chance to give a head-to-toe overview, and very loudly state their findings. At a pair of public […]
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Council narrowly approves controversial Central Health board nominee
By a one-vote margin, City Council approved the appointment of a new member to the Central Health Board of Managers after complaints about the nominee’s potential conflicts of interest. Council voted 6-5 to assign Julie Oliver, a division controller for St. David’s HealthCare, to a vacant seat on the nine-member board that governs Central Health, […]
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Central Health board chair lays out case against nominee
The chair of the Central Health Board of Managers is ramping up the pressure on City Council to reject an applicant to the board due to the applicant’s position with a major hospital. In a lengthy letter sent Friday to Council Member Ora Houston, who chairs the Council Health and Human Services Committee, board Chair […]
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Central Health nominee stirs up policy questions
The chair of the Central Health Board of Managers strongly suggested that City Council may be causing problems for the board by appointing a new member with ties to a major hospital. In an interview with the Austin Monitor Tuesday, board Chair Katrina Daniel said that Julie Oliver, whose appointment to the board Council is […]