On Tuesday, federal and state health officials confirmed the first U.S. case of Ebola in a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Here’s what you need to know about the case.
Department of State Health Services
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Health care
State, Feds Target El Paso Hospital Over TB
More than 700 infants and 40 employees may have been exposed to an employee with tuberculosis at an El Paso hospital. State and federal officials say the facility has been given 23 days to fix its problems.
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Health care
Liveblog: Health Care at The Texas Tribune Festival
We’re liveblogging the sessions from the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival’s Health Care track. The sessions include panels on mental health, the Affordable Care Act, medical education and women’s health.
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The Politics of Prevention
Lawmakers Push to Consolidate Women’s Health Programs
Lawmakers are looking for ways to consolidate Texas’ various women’s health programs in an effort to improve access to family planning, cancer screenings and dozens of other services for the state’s poorest women.
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Criminal Justice
Transcript: Abbott’s Remarks on Hazardous Chemical Storage
Greg Abbott made big headlines this week for suggesting that citizens get information about the storage of hazardous chemicals in Texas not from state officials but from the businesses that house them. Check out his full remarks.
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Demographics
State, Waiting for Feds, Providing Vaccines for Child Detainees
In light of a recent surge of undocumented immigrants crossing the state’s southern border, the state health department has sent 2,000 state-purchased flu vaccines to a federal shelter housing unaccompanied minors in South Texas.
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Health care
Texas Considering No Longer Licensing X-Ray Technicians
Texas is considering doing away with the licensing of X-ray technicians and 11 other types of health professionals. Some say that would put patients at risk. A Sunset Commission hearing Wednesday is set to address the issue.
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Demographics
Texas Health Officials: Immigrant Surge Presents a Medical Crisis
As the state’s top elected officials debate how to halt a surge of immigrants across the border, health officials and volunteer doctors are voicing concerns over what they say is the more serious challenge: a looming medical crisis.
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Health care
Analysis: Pay for Mental Health or Pay the Jailer
Once again, the state’s care for mental health patients is under legislative scrutiny, and county sheriffs and other local officials are hoping the state will fix a problem that has spilled into their domains.
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Health care
Nurse Practitioners Say That Greater Autonomy Would Cure Challenges
Nurse practitioners say state regulations, which link them to supervising physicians, limit their ability to treat patients in a state with a looming shortage of primary care physicians.
