Editor's note: this story has been updated to clarify that the East Austin clinic closures were temporary

The Travis County Commissioners Court approved a resolution to form a joint public health commission with the city of Austin at its Feb. 22 meeting.


The item was previously approved by Austin City Council in September. According to the council resolution, the COVID-19 pandemic “illustrates the importance of having policy, plans, programs, and operations ready to address public health crises at a national, state and local level.”

“We want to make sure that we are aligned, that we aren’t working against each other, that we are talking about public health 52 weeks a year,” Cmmissioner Jeff Travillion said.

Tasks the new commission will be responsible for include monitoring public health issues in Austin-Travis County, finding areas that need improvement and providing recommendations, and providing an annual report on ways the city and county can improve its public health programs and measures.



The court passed the motion with Commissioner Margaret Gómez abstaining.

Gómez and Commissioner Brigid Shea questioned the role of Central Health, an existing public entity tasked with providing health care in Travis County, in the new commission. Both expressed disapproval of the organization's past service in Austin’s minority communities, such as its decision to temporarily close its East Austin clinics in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Central Health should be looking at their operating model so that we don’t have to provide this separate tranche of funding to reach the people they’re supposed to be reaching,” Shea said.

Travillion described Central Health as “a work in progress.”


“We want to make sure our communities are reached out to, and sometimes reaching out to the minority community, particularly the eastern crescent, has been a challenge for Central Health,” Travillion said. “They will certainly be involved, but they need to step their game up.”

Next steps in the creation of the public health commission will be brought to the Commissioners Court by April 15.