Silver Sponsors

St. David’s Foundation grants will support four Bastrop County maternal health efforts focused on pregnancy, postpartum care, food assistance, doula services and more.

1. ALAS Texas: Funding will support a community-led maternal health program connecting Latino immigrant families in Bastrop County with prenatal, postpartum, grief and peer support, resource navigation and more.

2. Birthing Belonging: Funding will support a HEAL Alliance initiative to provide community-led maternal health help for rural Black, Latina and Indigenous mothers.

3. Chosen Women Empower: Funding will support a partnership between Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry and Chosen Women Empower to connect pregnant mothers from underserved areas of the county with food assistance and other resources.

4. WOMB 360 Collaborative: Funding will support the Women Overcoming Maternal Barriers 360 Collaborative, a partnership led by The Bastrop Birthing Center with Bastrop County Cares, Nurtured TX, Doc Who Listens and EverMother to connect Bastrop County families with midwifery care, perinatal mental health support, transportation, doula services and more.

A new president has been named for two Ascension Seton locations in Central Texas. Megan Drake is the president of the Ascension Seton Hays Hospital in Kyle, alongside the hospital’s Bastrop location.

Drake has a background in health care administration and experience leading operational excellence, strategic growth initiatives and advancing quality patient care, according to a news release.

Quote of note: "We are thrilled to welcome Megan to Ascension Seton Hays and look forward to the vision and leadership she will bring to our hospital and the communities we serve," Jamie Youssef, CEO for Ascension Texas, said in the release.

Career history: Drake spent the last seven years as a chief operating officer at St. David’s HealthCare and recently served at the St. David’s South Austin Medical Center. Before working in Austin, Drake served as the chief operating officer at Shelby Baptist Medical Center, a 252-bed hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

A Crunch Fitness, a Bootbarn and a Dick’s Sporting Goods are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. The Westlyn ($70 million): This project involves the construction of a mixed use/adaptive re-use project.

2. TxDOT Georgetown AEM Facility Renovation & Expansion ($19 million): This project includes construction of a new 11,200 square foot area engineer office building at the existing 10.2-acre Texas Department of Transportation property.

3. Boot Barn ($16.5 million): A Boot Barn is coming to Kyle.

4. Dick's Sporting Goods ($16.5 million): Dick’s Sporting Goods is bringing a new location to Kyle Park.

5. Crunch Fitness ($4.9 million): A new Crunch Fitness location is coming to Manor, with construction set to begin in the fall.

Changing drinking preferences are hitting retail shelves across Central Texas, with THC- and CBD-infused drinks increasingly positioning themselves as alternatives to traditional alcohol.

A closer look: Shayda Torabi, the cofounder of RESTART CBD + THC—a hemp retailer based in Austin—said many consumers are drinking less alcohol while actively looking for an alternative with an effect, not just a mocktail—what she referred to as the “sober curious movement.”

“People don't just want an adaptogenic drink, they don't just want a fizzy knockoff cosmopolitan. They want that drink that they're subbing alcohol for to have some experience, to have some effect,” Torabi said. “I think that's where cannabis beverages have really nicely parlayed into this next generation of consumers.”

What you should know: Torabi explained that many consumable hemp products can range from 2 milligrams to 10 milligrams of THC, but some products contain dosages as high as 100 milligrams. For first-time users, Torabi recommends starting with a low dose, around 2.5 milligrams of THC.

The Austin healthcare landscape is shifting to increase specialized care for pediatric patients as community needs grow.

Previously, children and families had to travel outside of the region to seek treatment in the '80s and '90s, said Deb Brown, chief operating officer at Dell Children’s Medical Center. Similarly, patients within the Texas Children’s Hospital network had to travel to Houston before its North Austin campus opened in 2024.

Now, leaders at Austin’s pediatric medical facilities are sharing the importance and unique aspects of pediatric care.

What’s different? Facilities specializing in pediatric medical care are intentionally designed to help ease patient anxiety and provide specialized training for medical professionals, said Dr. Edward Buchanan, chief medical officer of Texas Children’s Austin Campus.

St. David's Heart Hospital of Austin recently became the first facility in Central Texas to offer a cutting-edge photon-counting computed tomography, or CT, scanner.

The new scanner is designed to generate high-resolution images with greater diagnostic consistency for physicians treating pulmonary and cardiology patients, hospital officials said in a news release.

The details: Per the news release, this technology converts X-ray photons directly into electrical signals without information loss, producing ultra-high-resolution imaging beyond what a conventional CT can do and allowing physicians to obtain all relevant CT data in a single scan. Officials said this CT offers a new level of detail for patients who need to be scanned more frequently, as diagnostic consistency is “paramount” for patients with complex imaging needs.

What else? Hospital officials also said the new technology can also be used for HeartSaver CT scans, which determines if patients have plaque or calcium buildup in the heart’s arteries.