Dell partners up

Dell Medical School has announced a new partnership to expand and improve health care given to military veterans in Central Texas. The partnership with Central Texas Veterans Health Care System and Seton Healthcare Family will make Dell Seton Medical Center the hospital of choice for inpatient referrals from the CTVHCS, and provide a primary care track at the agency for residents at the medical school and Seton. It is hoped the partnership will help doctors in training hone their skills at treating the health care needs for veterans, who have a higher incidence of mental health disorders, substance abuse issues, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Veterans are a cohort of Travis County residents with more acute health care demands, and focusing on improving health care delivery to them is a new part of the medical school’s mission to provide care for the indigent. Local activists have criticized the medical school and Central Health, the county’s health care district that channels $35 million per year in tax money to the school, for not spending enough of that money directly on administering care to area residents.