Last week, Travis County kicked off the design portion of its long-awaited mental health diversion center and central intake project. The lead architectural firms, Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects, Kirksey Architecture, and Pulitzer Bogard, will work with county staff and UT’s Dell Medical School to conceptualize the physical diversion center, which will take approximately 18 months […]
University of Texas Dell Medical School
The UT medical school under construction in downtown Austin near the proposed innovation district.
Posted inPublic Health
With backing from a Parkland survivor, Travis County begins hospital-based gun violence prevention program
Back in 2022, the Travis County Commissioners Court passed the Safer Travis County resolution, aimed at reducing gun violence, at the time – and still – the leading cause of non-accidental death in the county. The resolution included two pilot programs, each costing $500,000 and funded by Local Fiscal Recovery Plan dollars through the American […]
Posted inPlanning
Erwin Center demolition marks latest change in ever-shifting health care district
Demolition of the Frank Erwin Center arena on the University of Texas campus is expected to begin next month, following approval last week from UT leaders to move ahead with the $25 million teardown of the longtime home for both university basketball teams. The vote by the UT Board of Regents also spells the end […]
Posted inPublic Health
Dell Seton Medical Center will get a $280 million expansion
Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas is set to get a major expansion to the tune of $280 million, the facility’s parent hospital system Ascension Seton announced Monday. The expansion will add 150 beds and more than 160,000 square feet to Dell Seton. Four new floors will be added to the top […]
Posted inPublic Health
Community leaders release ‘red flags’ report on Central Health
Leaders of the NAACP Austin and Texas League of United Latin American Citizens District VII released a scathing report Wednesday on Central Health’s financial and operational activities. The organizations called on the Travis County Commissioners Court to order a “comprehensive, independent, third-party performance audit” of the agency. Frank Ortega, director of the LULAC district, and […]
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
New Dell Med initiative embeds health interventions in community programs
On Monday, UT Dell Medical School launched Factor Health, a new initiative in Austin and Houston that builds and tests programs to deliver health interventions outside clinics and hospitals, per a Dell Med press release. Social service provider Meals on Wheels Central Texas, youth development organization Youth Rise Texas and managed care payers Amerigroup Texas […]
Posted inDevelopment
Demolition of Brackenridge starts this month, paving the way for 17-story office building
After more than 130 years in Austin, a portion of the University Medical Center Brackenridge downtown will come down this month and be replaced by a 17-story office building. The demolition is part of UT Austin’s plan to expand its health care district centered around the Dell Medical School. The new office will provide more […]
Posted inPublic Health
Medical school seeking ideas that think outside the doc’s office
The Dell Medical School at the University of Texas is looking for local organizations with ideas on how to improve the health of Austin-area residents away from the doctor’s office. In partnership with the Houston-based Episcopal Health Foundation, the medical school will spend two years growing and gathering data from a handful of selected projects […]
Posted inPublic Health
Dell Medical investment begins to pay dividends
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 […]
Posted inPublic Health
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. […]
Posted inPublic Health
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 […]