Southwest Austin Dripping Springs Edition | June 2023

HEALTH CARE BRIEFS Austin-area clinics see spike in STI cases, urge community to seek care

2023 HEALTH CARE EDITION

Power outages still a concern at senior living facilities

GETTING TREATMENT Austin Public Health ocials are urging people to get testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections as cases are rising. In 2022: 10,000 patients were screened for HIV and syphilis 345 patients were given HIV PrEP medications 31 patients had mpox

BY ELLE BENT

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season began June 1, and families of elderly residents in assisted- and independent-living facilities have expressed safety concerns after many residents went without power during severe winter weather in February 2022 and February 2023. In Texas, while new nursing homes are required by law to have a generator, independent- and assisted-living facilities are not, resulting in only 47% of the approximate 2,000 facilities in Texas using a generator for backup power, according to a 2022 study by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The ease of acquiring a generator for one of these facilities is dependent on the size of the facility and the type of generator needed, Texas HHSC Communications Ocer Jennifer Rucorn said in an email. Without a generator backing up power, seniors in independent- and assisted-living facilities are left in the dark during emergencies such as Winter Storm Mara, which caused more than 373,000 power outages across Austin and Dripping Springs in February, as previously reported by Community Impact . Dripping Springs resident Warren Walters’ mother-in-law lives in independent housing at Ledgestone Senior Living. During the February winter storm, he brought his mother-in-law to stay with him due to the prolonged power outage. “There were many residents that really were just stuck there, hanging out, wearing extra coats,” Walters said. “It was really hard to see.” These types of facilities are encouraged to have emergency plans in place, including for extended blackouts, said Carmen Tilton, vice president of public policy with the Texas Assisted Living Association. The HHS requires assisted-living facilities to regularly prepare for natural disasters, according to a news release by the commission.

BY AMANDA CUTSHALL

Austin Public Health ocials are encouraging individuals to seek out testing and resources as it sees an uptick in sexually transmitted infections. APH ocials saw 10,000 patient visits in 2022—up 38% from the 2021 numbers, APH Director Adrienne Sturrup said. The Kind Clinic, which is a free full-service sexual health and wellness clinic dedicated to the treatment and prevention of STIs, saw a similar trend for 2022, providing services to 11,260 patients through the walk-in clinic on Koenig Lane. “This is an increase of 365% in demand for STI testing,” said Steven Tamayo, director of Community Health for Texas Health Action, which oversees the Kind clinics. “I think we can attribute this increase somewhat to people com- ing out of quarantine, restrictions being lifted, people getting back to going out—anecdotally, this is what we have seen.” APH’s sexual health programs oer a range of services, including testing and treatment for STIs, HIV testing and counseling, and education on safe sexual practices. The program also provides free condoms and distributes them to various community locations. The Kind Clinic oers similar services, and specializes in STI and HIV testing and treatment with expertise in serving the LGBTQ commu- nity, Tamayo said. In addition, the clinic oers a mobile unit that travels throughout the city for those who do not have transportation. Tamayo said another service oered by the clinics includes mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, vaccines for the public. On May 26 local health ocials recorded the rst Austin-Travis County case of mpox since February.

SEXUAL HEALTH CLINICS IN AUSTIN

WALLER ST.

APH Sexual Health Clinic • 15 Waller St.

Kind Clinic North Austin • 101 W Koenig Lane

Kind Clinic South Austin • 2800 S. I-35

SOURCE: AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTHCOMMUNITY IMPACT

For more information about the Austin Public Health Sexual Health Clinic, call 512-972-5430. For more information about the Kind Clinic, call 833-937-5463.

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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • JUNE 2023