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For years, Bastrop residents have left the area for specialty and inpatient care. Now, city leaders are studying whether a full-service, acute care hospital could work closer to home.

In April, Bastrop City Council advanced a second round of analysis after reviewing a feasibility study by health care consulting firm Pershing Yoakley & Associates.

The study examined demographics, inpatient demand, patient migration and market conditions across a 37-ZIP-code service area—or about a 30-minute drive—surrounding Bastrop. Among its findings: facilities in Bastrop are “insufficient,” and the region is short about 523 hospital beds—forcing 97% of residents to leave for inpatient, specialty and acute care.

What’s happening: The 26-acre hospital site is proposed within Bastrop West, a roughly 400-acre mixed-use development near FM 20 and SH 71 that could also host a hotel and convention center, multifamily housing, and retail and dining options. About 609,000 residents live in the study area, which is projected to grow about 2% annually through 2030—double the 1% annual growth rate projected statewide, according to data from the Texas Demographic Center.

PHI Air Medical’s Cedar Creek base expanded its advanced emergency transport services in 2025, adding several respiratory, cardiac and trauma-care capabilities—some for the first time in Central Texas.

What’s happening: Company officials announced April 14 that the Cedar Creek base added new in-flight care services for critically ill patients, including those experiencing severe respiratory distress, pulmonary hypertension or organ failure.

The details: The Cedar Creek base became the first air medical service in Central Texas to provide routine, independent transports involving inhaled epoprostenol, which can help patients with severe respiratory failure.

The base also added high-flow nasal cannula, inhaled nitric oxide and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation transport services for patients with respiratory or organ failure—the first known in the Austin area.

One more thing: Bastrop County residents pay no out-of-pocket flight costs when picked up in a seven-county service area through an agreement with Bastrop County Emergency Services District No. 3.

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Check out six transportation project updates across the Austin metro.

$131M in CAMPO grants to fund WilCo road projects: The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization dedicated about $131 million in federal funding for nine road projects and one trail project. The projects span Georgetown, Hutto, Leander, Liberty Hill, Northwest Austin and Round Rock.

Austin seeks to rein in 'chaotic' e-moto use: A resolution advanced by city leaders this spring will now result in proposed updates to city code defining electronic motorcycles and mini-bikes and their legality, establishing when and where they're permitted and setting related penalties. A report on those changes will be presented by late July.

I-35 northbound lanes to temporarily close for up to 4 weekends: The Texas Department of Transportation will close the I-35 northbound main lanes between Slaughter Lane and SH 71/Ben White Boulevard as part of the I-35 Capital Express South Project from 11 p.m.-9 a.m. on July 10 and 11, July 17 and 18, and July 24 and 25 if needed.

In smaller communities and cities around the Greater Austin area, demand for health care specialists has risen at a rate unmatched by access to professionals, said Ashley Price, Austin Regional Clinic's vice president of operations.

Austin Regional Clinic, or ARC, is expanding its specialty services both north and south of Austin to provide unique care to residents in the surrounding cities.

Current situation: Access to health care specialists in Central Texas can be a barrier for residents seeking medical care, Price said. While cities neighboring Austin are growing rapidly, the nation faces a shortage of both primary care physicians and specialists.

Specialists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants with ARC travel to multiple clinic locations to meet patients where there is a need, so they are not required to journey into Austin for care.

The specifics: ARC is further expanding with the opening of a Lockhart clinic on June 15, and ARC South Specialty in South Austin, opening in phases beginning June 1.

ARC also opened the Greenlawn Specialty clinic in Round Rock on Jan. 19.

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.

Texas' Republican-led State Board of Education approved a sweeping rewrite of the state's social studies curriculum standards and a list of dozens of books that students will be required to read each school year, both of which are infused with biblical references. The new requirements will begin rolling out to public school classrooms in the 2030-31 school year.

The details: As many as 25 texts will be read each year in early elementary school grades, with about 10 books required in later grades. The reading list was created under a 2023 state law requiring “at least one literary work” per grade.

The new social studies curriculum standards will expand lessons about Texas and American history, deemphasizing some teachings about world cultures and people of color. The standards also expand the amount of content students will be expected to learn each year.

The debate: Proponents of the new standards and reading list said they will teach students to love their state and country, while critics said the policies do not include diverse perspectives.