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Public Health

'Demand has just gone up and up': Food banks struggle to keep up post-pandemic

Drivers line up down the street to grab groceries from a small, white house in the Dunbar neighborhood of San Marcos. For some time, the renovated house worked fine for the Hays County Food Bank, but as more and more…

Public Health • By Maya Fawaz, KUT • Jul 8, 2024

Central Health talks new facilities, services in advance of 2025 budget

Travis County’s public hospital district that funds medical care for low-income residents plans to accelerate its introduction of new clinical services in its next budget year. Care for psychiatry, endocrinology and rheumatology are among the new offerings on tap in…

Public Health • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 3, 2024

Charts showing projected future climate over Austin

New climate report shows last summer's record-high temps might not be a fluke

The results are in from researchers at the University of Texas’ Climate CoLab, and those who hoped last summer’s record-breaking temperatures to be a deviation from the norm might want to adjust their expectations. The new Climate Projections report, which…

Environment • By Kali Bramble • Jun 12, 2024

City could revive idled homelessness prevention programs with its next budget

The city will likely look at restarting funding for homelessness prevention programs that were largely shelved in recent years in response to receiving federal funding that prioritized rapid rehousing efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week, City Council’s Public Health…

Public Health • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 11, 2024

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Travis County has seen a surge of fentanyl overdoses. A new report shows it's not slowing down.

Fentanyl-related overdoses continue to be the leading cause of accidental overdose deaths in Travis County, according to a new report from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office. In 2023, 279 people died from a fentanyl-related overdose – up from 245…

Public Health • By Andrew Weber, KUT • May 24, 2024

Central Health board focuses on equity as it expands access to specialty care

Following a 2018 performance review, Travis County hospital district Central Health analyzed the county health care system, searching for service gaps among its target safety-net population. The county queried its population’s access to eight lines of service, from primary to specialty and dental…

Public Health • By Nick Erichson • Apr 25, 2024

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Central Health to spend millions on opioid abatement

Central Health, Travis County’s hospital district serving low-income residents, is due to receive over $3 million from the state’s opioid abatement trust fund this spring. An allocation of nearly $10 million more – largely “front-loaded” – will be disbursed over…

Public Health • By Nick Erichson • Mar 14, 2024

Questions abound over pilot program for mental health diversion

As City Council is set to consider authorizing negotiations on a contract that would include allocating $2 million for a mental health diversion pilot program, a lot of questions remain unanswered. On Tuesday, Mayor Kirk Watson started the work session…

Public Health • By Jo Clifton • Feb 14, 2024

Partners unite in fight against opioid epidemic 

On Thursday, the city of Austin, Central Health and community partners delivered presentations to the Travis County Commissioners Court addressing ongoing opioid crisis abatement measures in the greater Austin area.  At present, major interventions include the distribution of naloxone (a…

Public Health • By Nick Erichson • Feb 13, 2024

An Austin-area food bank wants students to get healthy meals, so it opened a food pantry at a school

The Central Texas Food Bank is launching a new program to establish food pantries in schools and opened its first location on Wednesday at Creedmoor Elementary, a Del Valle Independent School District campus. “We are super excited to be a flagship and…

Public Health • By Becky Fogel, KUT • Jan 25, 2024

Commission questions what Central Health is doing to address persistent disparities in health access

The Austin/Travis County Public Health Commission heard key findings of Central Health’s 2022 Demographic Report at its regular meeting on Jan. 3. Central Health updated the report in February 2023, finding that Austin’s high cost of living and affordability crisis…

Public Health • By Nina Hernandez • Jan 9, 2024

Requests for abortion pills surged amid threats to reproductive rights, UT-based study shows

Advance requests for abortion medication surged when the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked, a new study has found. The study in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at requests for the abortion medications mifepristone and misoprostol from the telemedicine service…

Public Health • By Olivia Aldridge, KUT • Jan 8, 2024

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