In the coming days, the deaths of Sandra Bland and Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth will continue to jolt statewide conversations about how the Texas criminal justice system deals with — or fails to deal with — mental health issues.
Department of State Health Services
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Health care
Video: Health Care and the 84th Legislative Session
At our 5/4 symposium on health care, state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, the chairman of the House Public Health Committee, and state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, the chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, talked about how the issue is playing out in the 84th session.
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Health care
State Health Tests Prodded Blue Bell Recall
Shortly after lab tests on two Blue Bell ice cream flavors came back “presumptive positive” for Listeria, an assistant commissioner at the state health agency reached for the phone to call Brenham.
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Health care
Health Agency Bill Pulled Down Amid Heated Abortion Debate
UPDATED: Debate on legislation to re-evaluate a state health agency morphed into a fight over abortion in the Texas House on Thursday, and the bill was pulled down after a pair of anti-abortion amendments were added to the bill over the author’s objections.
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Health care
Terrell State Psychiatrists Resign After Accusations
Two psychiatrists at Terrell State Hospital resigned this week after they were accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from a pharmaceutical company to use their state positions to promote the company’s products.
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Energy
Lawmaker’s Bill Aims to Prevent Another Fertilizer Plant Blast
State Rep. Kyle Kacal has introduced legislation that he hopes would prevent another accident like the explosion of a West fertilizer plant in 2013 that killed 15 and injured more than 200.
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Health care
State Scrambling to Find Housing for Sex Offenders
The state agency responsible for supervising, monitoring and providing treatment to sexually violent predators is out of space to house sex offenders, agency officials told state lawmakers on Wednesday.
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Health care
Finding a Texas Way to Cover the Uninsured
Texas hospitals want legislators to find a way for the state to draw down billions in federal Affordable Care Act dollars to cover the uninsured and alleviate the burden on local taxpayers. This is the third video in our State of Mind series.
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Health care
Sources: Lakey Leaving DSHS for Position at UT System
David Lakey, the state’s public health chief, will accept a joint position with the University of Texas System and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, sources tell the Tribune.
Posted inHealth care, Politics, State Government
Battles Near and Far Over Medicaid and More
Gov. Rick Perry has championed private-market health care solutions and criticized public programs like Medicaid for being inefficient. Alexa Ura and Edgar Walters write about that and other notable health care issues that have come up during Perry’s tenure.
