Travis County is shifting focus to prevent overdose deaths as fentanyl ravages the area
Since 2019, accidental drug deaths have been rising in Texas, with the number tripling in Travis County. Full Story
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![An Austin-Travis County EMS vehicle parked outside of St. Davidís North Austin Medical Center on July 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
New $305 million Austin State Hospital unveiled as Texas revamps psychiatric system
The facility has 240 single-person rooms, a basketball gym and outdoor courtyards. It’s part of a $2.5 billion overhaul of the state’s mental health hospital system. Full Story
![Patient rooms include a bed, desk and private bathroom in the Austin State Hospital on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 in Austin. The hospital has 240 beds for adult inpatients.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas leaders zero in on exploding hemp market
Thousands of hemp dispensaries have sprung up in Texas in the years since consumable hemp became legal. Full Story
![Owner Shayda Torabi, poses for a photo inside of Restart CBD on Thursday, May 9, 2024 in Austin. Torabi, along with her two sisters, become curious about the properties of the plant after Torabi had an accident and started using CBD as a solution to manage her pain.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Here’s how a Denton divorce case could imperil IVF access in Texas
The Texas Supreme Court is considering taking up the question of whether frozen embryos should be treated as people, not property, in a divorce case. Full Story
![A nurse practitioner for Huntsville Reproductive Medicine, P.C., lifts frozen embryos out of IVF cryopreservation dewar in Madison, Alabama on March 4, 2024.]()
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Clarendon City Council rejects ordinance banning travel to access abortion outside of Texas
Clarendon is one of the first cities in Texas to reject the ordinance, after several cities and counties passed similar measures Full Story
![Northbound motorists drive on I-27 south of Plainview, a route traveled by many that seek abortion healthcare while headed out of Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Anti-abortion crusader’s deposition requests generate fear, but no findings
Jonathan Mitchell has filed at least nine petitions seeking information from abortion activists, doctors and women. None have resulted in a deposition. Full Story
![Attorney Jonathan Mitchell speaks before the Texas Supreme Court on Oct 28, 2021.]()
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Feds investigate another Texas school district for its gender identity mandate
Katy ISD’s board voted this past fall to require staff to notify parents if their child wants to use a different pronoun or identifies as a different gender. Full Story
![Free pronoun buttons at the AISD "Pride Out!" Party in the Park event at Eastside Early College High School in Austin on Saturday, Mar. 26, 2022. There were fill-in-the-blank and other options not pictured as well.]()
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In rural Texas, ERs are facing a growing mental health crisis
The mental health workforce shortage is more acute in rural areas, adding to rising patient loads in hospital ERs. Full Story
![Titus Regional Medical Center in Mt. Pleasant on April 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Join us for a May 22 conversation on addressing young Texans’ mental health needs
We’ll discuss the challenges facing our kids and how the state is investing in addressing the crisis. We’ll explore the work being done in schools, health care, child welfare and restorative justice systems. Full Story
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Legalized marijuana supporters hope voters in this Texas city will send a message to state lawmakers
There is no process in Texas for a voter-driven statewide referendum. So, supporters are going city by city to build statewide momentum. Full Story
![A shirt promotes the legalization of marijuana in Lubbock at the South Plains Fair in Lubbock on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Amarillo council may reconsider abortion travel ban after residents gather 10,000 signatures
Supporters began the petition drive after the City Council punted on the proposed policy. Voters may have the final say. Full Story
![Empty streets in downtown Amarillo, Friday, May 29, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
State’s premature release of bid proposal info touches off new battle over $116 billion in Medicaid contracts
The early release of documents meant a single competitor got an early look at the other bidders’ playbooks before final winners were announced. Full Story
![Sonia Wood, a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, treats a patient at Carousel Pediatrics in Austin, Texas on Nov. 8th, 2012.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for the Texas Tribune -
New reporting requirements for life-saving abortions worry some doctors
The proposed guidance from the Texas Medical Board would require doctors to document whether there was time to transfer a patient “by any means available” to avoid performing an abortion. Full Story
![Members of the public and media listen during the Texas Medical Board Full Board Meeting in the George H.W. Bush Building in Austin, Texas on Mar. 22, 2024. All the seats in the room were filled as everyone listened while they talked about agenda item number 28, ‘Consideration and possible action on rules regarding exceptions to the ban on abortions.’]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Seattle Children’s Hospital won’t have to provide trans patient records to Texas under new settlement
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suspected the hospital was helping Texas kids access puberty blockers or hormone treatments that are outlawed for juveniles. Full Story
![State Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a press conference at the Houston Recovery Center on Oct. 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is struggling to diversify its mental health workforce as the state becomes less white
More than 40% of the state’s population is Hispanic, but its mental health provider population is more than 80% white. Full Story
![In Texas, a key barrier to timely mental health care is the lack of Spanish-speaking providers in a state whose Hispanic population has become the majority.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas families could lose at-home nursing under stricter Medicaid rule
Some children who receive private duty nursing, a more continuous type of medical care in their homes, could lose their ability to live at home if an HHSC rule change goes into effect. Full Story
![JaReen Williams adjusts an iPad for her sixteen year old daughter, Lydia, as Lydia navigates to one of her comfort shows, Charlie Brown, in preparation for her triweekly treatment by a nurse on Friday, April 12, 2024, in Katy.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Proposed changes to state Medicaid plans could shake up health coverage for 1.8 million low-income Texans
The move, which has not been finalized, would drop three large health plans run for two decades by nonprofit children’s hospitals. Full Story
![Texas Children’s Hospital and other buildings in the Texas Medical Center in Houston on June 26, 2020.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for the Texas Tribune -
Texas, Idaho abortion bans test against federal emergency medicine rule
Hospitals are required to stabilize anyone experiencing a medical emergency. Two lawsuits question whether that includes performing an abortion, despite state laws. Full Story
![An Austin-Travis County EMS unit parked near a hospital's emergency entrance in Austin on July 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
Appeals court blocks $100,000 daily fine for Texas’ troubled foster care program
Jack’s order to fine Texas Health and Human Services on Monday was the third time the state has been found in contempt over foster care conditions since 2011. Full Story
![U.S. District Judge Janis Jack administers the U.S. oath of citizenship to more than 100 area residents representing 25 countries in 2008 aboard the USS Lexington. Jack was the first woman federal judge to serve in Texas south of San Antonio. July 5, 2008.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Todd Yates/Corpus Christi Caller-Times -
Texas psychologists’ board pushes back on costly new national licensing exam, considers crafting a cheaper state test
Faced with a nagging mental health provider shortage, the state psychologists’ licensing board is looking into whether the state should devise its own exam to get professionals licensed more quickly. Full Story
![Chair John Bielamowicz speaks during a the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists meeting during the discussion with the Association of State & Provincial Psychology Boards regarding the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology on Thursday, April 11, 2024 in Austin.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune
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