Silver Sponsors

Baylor Scott & White Health’s “Help Me Decide” virtual artificial intelligence tool aims to help patients navigate care options and avoid unnecessary emergency room visits.

Guided by clinician oversight, patients describe their symptoms, and AI points them to the most appropriate option, including e-visits, urgent care, a primary care appointment, nurse triage or emergency care.

The overview: Help Me Decide is an AI tool designed to reduce guesswork and confusion during stressful moments when patients may be feeling unwell by asking questions about their symptoms, said Dr. Camille Bradley, a family medicine doctor at Baylor Scott & White.

“[Help Me Decide] can make a really big difference in getting to the right place at the right time, which in medicine, is half the battle,” Bradley said.

The details: The tool asks patients a variety of questions in order to better understand their symptoms and the urgency of their situation. It will then make a recommendation for patients based on the answers.

New reporting from Austin's public safety departments shows their overtime costs are far exceeding departments' current allocations.

The details: Austin Fire, the Austin Police Department and Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services make up the majority of the city general fund, the portion of Austin's overall $6.3 billion budget covering most public facing services. Almost two-thirds of the $1.49 billion general fund is reserved for public safety in the current fiscal year 2025-26.

Last year, City Council voted to require public reporting of the three departments' overtime costs to help inform future budgeting decisions. That information is now available through monthly reporting accessible online.

What else: Spending activity reported through this spring shows APD and Austin Fire are well beyond their overtime budgets this year, while the EMS department several million dollars below its limit. As of the spring, the police department had nearly reached its fiscal year overtime allocation and the fire department already used over a third more than it has available.

A new Honest Mary’s location is headed for the Seaholm District this summer. Honest Mary’s—known for its simple ingredients and customizable bowls—is targeting a mid-July opening, according to a representative from the brand. 

Construction on the new Honest Mary’s was set to begin last fall, targeting an early 2026 opening date, according to previous Community Impact reporting. 

On the menu: The menu is stocked with signature and customizable bowls, sipping broths and snacks. Signature bowls include the Aloha Poke, prepared with hand-line caught poke, rice, vegetables and a sesame vinaigrette.

What’s special about it? The restaurant features dishes made without any artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or additives, according to its website. The menu is 82% free of industrial seed oils and only uses natural sweeteners. 

The context: Nelson Monteith, Honest Mary’s CEO, founded the company with his wife, Mary Monteith, in 2017. The pair opened the first location in the Arboretum neighborhood in 2017.

• 222 West Ave., Ste. 120, Austin

A YMCA renovation, road reconstruction and a Crunch Fitness are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Johnny Morris Road ($32.7 million): This project involves roadway reconstruction with improvements to curbs, sidewalks, shared-use paths, signal modifications, and signage and pavement markings.

2. Texas Children's Hospital Austin ($17.9 million): This project includes a shell infill on the existing 5th floor of the hospital to house 12 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, beds and 12 Universal Care Pediatric Beds.

3. YMCA Four Points ($17 million): This project involves the single-story renovation of the existing YMCA facility and a new outdoor space with a pool house.

4. Blue Hole Nature Center ($4 million): A new 2,375-square-foot nature center is being built in Wimberley.

5. Crunch Fitness ($1.5 million): A new Crunch Fitness location is coming to Hutto, with construction set to begin this fall.