Abbott taps Nebraska official to lead Health and Human Services Commission
Courtney Phillips currently leads the Department of Health and Human Services in Nebraska. Full Story
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![Courtney Phillips, Gov. Greg Abbott's newly named pick to head the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.]()
Credit: Office of the Governor -
TribCast: Slow family reunifications, Cruz-O'Rourke TV ads
On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Marissa and Emma about moldy, rat-infested state office buildings, family reunifications at the border, TV ads in the U.S. Senate race and a Republican state lawmaker's tough words for the Texas governor. Full Story
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![Border Patrol agents apprehend asylum seekers shortly after they crossed the Rio Grande River.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Other than the mold and the rats, it’s a picture of health
If the state's health agencies have been willing — until found out — to let their own employees work in squalor, should the rest of us be asking more questions about how they're watching out for us? Full Story
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![Mold on a computer wrist rest at the Austin State Hospital 636 building.]()
Credit: Obtained by The Texas Tribune -
At town hall, health services commissioner tells state employees mold-infested building "not unsafe"
The Texas Tribune obtained a recording of a town hall meeting with Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt and state workers nearly two weeks after they were relocated from the Austin State Hospital 636 building where a mold infestation had invaded their workspace. Full Story
![Mold on a computer wrist rest at the Austin State Hospital 636 building.]()
Credit: Obtained by The Texas Tribune -
Number of children in Texas shelters continues to grow after end of "zero tolerance"
Even after the Trump administration said it would reunify families separated under the now-paused “zero tolerance” policy, new data shows the number of children held in privately run shelters in Texas has continued to grow. Full Story
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![Southwest Key headquarters in Austin on June 19, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Texas health agency to vacate mold-infested building
Texas Department of State Health Services employees are being relocated from the Austin State Hospital 636 building where a mold infestation has invaded their desks, chairs, carpeting and keyboard hand rests. The news comes one day after The Texas Tribune reported the mold incursion. Full Story
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![Exterior of the Austin State Hospital 636 building.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Texas health building invaded by mold, raising health concerns
Workers have found mold infiltrating their desks, chairs and keyboard hand rests in the Austin State Hospital 636 building. The state has spent nearly $16,000 fighting the mold so far. Full Story
![Mold on a computer wrist rest at the Austin State Hospital 636 building.]()
Credit: Obtained by The Texas Tribune -
State audit finds billion-dollar errors in Texas health agency's contracting process
The new audit is yet another scandal at an agency plagued by contracting woes. Six of the commission's leaders have left in the last several months. Full Story
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![The Brown Heatly Health and Human Services building in Austin on Nov. 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Texas fetal remains burial trial gets underway
The law at the center of the case is Senate Bill 8, passed in 2017, which requires the burial or cremation of fetal remains. Full Story
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![Protesters of Texas' fetal remains burial rule gather outside the Governor's Mansion on Jan. 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers to address neglect of medically vulnerable Texans following Dallas Morning News report
Following the newspaper's investigation into failings and cutbacks in the state's managed care program, three Texas House committees will meet this month to discuss ways to improve the program. Full Story
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![State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, speaks to media regarding her request to add ethics reform to the special session on Aug. 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas reproductive rights groups worried about Trump proposal to strip funding from clinics affiliated with abortion providers
Anti-abortion advocates and state leaders, meanwhile, hope the rule will help the state power the right to distribute federal family planning dollars. Full Story
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Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Amid contracting scandal, Charles Smith to retire as head of Texas health commission
Smith, executive commissioner for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, will step down at the end of May after weeks of intense scrutiny over how the commission handles contracts. Full Story
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![Charles Smith, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, testifies at a Nov. 1, 2017 state House committee hearing.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Report: Thousands more Texas women being served in health programs
Despite rising numbers, it's still not known whether the number of women accessing such services has returned to the levels that preceded massive budget cuts during the 2011 legislative session. Full Story
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![A billboard advertising the Healthy Texas Women program in downtown Austin.]()
Credit: Tim Park for The Texas Tribune -
A Texas health commission employee was fired. Then she received the private information of more than 100 clients.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission's Office of the Inspector General is investigating how a former agency employee was mailed a box full of private client information. Full Story
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![Tracy Ryans pulls out client applications containing private information that was mistakenly sent to her from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, on April 24, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
State auditor finds more contracting errors made by health agencies
The State Auditor’s Office released a 30-page report on Monday showing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Department of State Health Services bungled a contract with Genesis Systems Inc. Full Story
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![Charles Smith of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services testifies Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, to the House Committees on Human Services and Public Health at the Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Health agency leader: "We welcome" audits into contracting issues
Texas Health and Human Services executive commissioner Charles Smith said during a speech Thursday that his agency is working to improve how it handles contracts. Full Story
![Charles Smith, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, testifies at a Nov. 1, 2017 state House committee hearing.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus calls for investigation into state health agency contracting
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said that the House Appropriations Committee or the General Investigating and Ethics Committee should look into the Health and Human Services Commission’s practices for contract oversight. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announces he won't seek re-election in 2018 at a press conference at the state Capitol on Oct. 25, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas takes early steps to repair or replace its aged mental hospitals
Texas Health and Human Services officials announced Monday that they are receiving $47.7 million to begin needed construction for existing state hospitals, some of which are more than a century old. Full Story
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![The Austin State Hospital is shown on April 29, 2016. Officials said that as of April 2016, state hospitals have nearly 400 people on waiting lists, and the number of beds the state pays for in private facilities has not kept up with the state’s rapid population growth.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber -
Texas has enough federal funds to keep CHIP running through the end of March
Texas now has enough federal money to keep alive a health insurance program for more than 400,000 uninsured kids and pregnant women through the end of March, a state official said Friday. Full Story
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![Dr. Javier Saenz checks the ear of Viviana Escareño, 6, for infection. The young girl’s mother, Claudia Escareño, has brought “Vivi” to Saenz’s clinic since she was born.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal -
Three women indicted in death of impaired woman in state facility
Five months after the death of a severely disabled woman in a state facility, three employees have been indicted on felony murder charges. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman