The latest Department of State Health Services news from The Texas Tribune.
Dozens of rural Texas counties have no primary care doctors, no hospitals, no pharmacies. Many Texans live more than an hour from basic medical care. And some border communities have so little health care that U.S. citizens cross over into Mexico to get it. Full Story
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Roll your own political videos ... interactive travel maps of your federal and state legislators ... scary movies, to keep the kids out of the border's scary drug wars ... puttting dropouts back in class ... rates squeezing families out of home health care ... how many lobby and trade associations do teachers in Texas need? ... enjoying the silence before an expected two-month siege of political advertising ... the dean of Texas political writers gets shut out of the gubernatorial debates ... and we have an interactive database of the state's best and worst public schools. The best of our best for a short news week, from December 19 to 26, 2009. Full Story
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The Department of State Health Services will destroy all blood samples taken from infants before May 27, 2009 to settle a lawsuit over the state's newborn screening program. Full Story
In the health care debate, universal coverage has significant if not overwhelming support, but is also marked by pronounced partisan differences, and Texans appeared truly split down the middle on the “public option.” Full Story
The Texas Departments of Family and Protective Services and State Health Services are launching a "Room to Breathe" campaign to educate parents about the dangers of co-sleeping, a controversial subject that they appear to be approaching with caution. Full Story
First Lady Anita Perry is speaking out against new breast cancer screening recommendations made by a federal task force last month. Full Story
Pending food-stamp applications have soared in Texas — from about 38,000 a year ago to more than 65,000 in October. Two-thirds of those people had waited longer than the federally mandated 30 days, and nearly half had waited more than 60 days. Full Story
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It was a political week, with a full-court press from our staff on Bill White's switch to the governor's race and all of the fallout; the moves during the first week of filing for political races; Philpott's look at Republicans challenging Republicans; Hu's latest in the popular Stump Interrupted series; Ramshaw on emergency rooms, family doctors, and child protection; Stiles and Grissom mapping payday lending locations juxtaposed with family income data; Rapoport on the state budget and education; Thevenot on KBH's plans for schools; and Hamilton on the power (or not) of political endorsements. The best of the best from November 28 to December 4, 2009. Full Story
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State health officials are considering lifting a requirement that Texas emergency rooms have a physician on-site at all times — as long as one can get there within 30 minutes. Full Story
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Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn... Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint... Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch... Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors... Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that's trying to control itself... and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It's the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009. Full Story
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As lawmakers in D.C. hammer out a health care reform bill, physician-owned specialty hospitals — a quarter of which are in Texas — face an uncertain fate. Full Story
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Speaker Joe Straus has given committees their assignments for the next year. Full Story
Andre Osborne was so over-medicated in the Willacy Immigration Detention Center that he fell off of the top bunk of his bed, badly injuring his face and eyes. Full Story
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If the "states' rights" leadership in Texas refuses to do anything for our state, then it's up to Congress to enact reform that will benefit all Americans, especially Texans. Full Story
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Tired of waiting for the state to provide swine flu vaccine locations, The Dallas Morning News took matters into its own hands. Full Story
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Gov. Perry made a timely announcement today: He's proposing initiatives to improve mental health programs for veterans. Full Story
Drugs are abundant in border communities. Poverty is rampant. Substance abuse treatment is scarce. What's a 16 year old to do? Full Story
The Texas Medical Board has temporarily tabled a proposal that would cut EMTs and entry-level nurses out of the telemedicine equation, saying the issue needs more study. Full Story
State psychiatrists are making crazy money. Of the 100 highest paid state employees, 45 are psychiatrists, most of them employed by the state’s 10 mental hospitals. Full Story
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