Central Health board eyes new teaching hospital

The board of Central Health, a taxing authority that oversees health care programs for low-income Travis County (TX) residents, weighed in as a group Saturday and embraced the idea of rebuilding University Medical Center Brackenridge, Austin's public hospital, which is owned by Central Health. Board members, attending a 5½-hour retreat to build consensus on their vision for a medical school, said they support a premier teaching facility and trauma center for training doctors in primary and specialty care, as well as teaching them to work in clinics that serve the poor. The board also said, among other goals, it wants to play an influential role in developing the medical school concept so doctors gain experience in its clinics and stay in the community, alleviating a shortage of physicians. The board said it placed a high priority on seeing that its patients are treated like others in the community, regardless of income.