Texas Health Institute

10/16/2026

The Texas Oral Health Universe Data Brief brings together key data and indicators to provide a broader picture of oral health across Texas and the factors that shape it. It highlights the connection between oral health and whole health, illustrating how oral health can influence everyday life, from eating and speaking to education, employment, and chronic disease prevention.
Explore the data on the Texas Oral Health Coalition website:

Oral health and whole health are deeply connected, impacting everything from the ability to eat and speak, to academic success, job opportunities, and chronic disease prevention. When everyone has the opportunity to achieve their best oral health, we see healthier, stronger communities.

10/13/2026

Rural communities across Texas are navigating significant challenges in sustaining maternal health care, including gaps in maternity services, primary care, workforce, and infrastructure. Join us to hear from panelists with perspectives from epidemiology, rural hospital leadership, and frontline clinical care about what rural maternal health challenges look like on the ground.

Bringing Rural Maternal Health to Life: From Rescue to Moonshot | October 29 | 12:00 PM CT

Register now:

Behind every statistic about rural maternal health is a mother, a baby, a family, a health care professional, and a community. Rural communities across Texas are navigating significant challenges in sustaining maternal health care, including gaps in maternity services, primary care, workforce, and i...

10/09/2026

We're honored to welcome Representative James Frank, Chairman of the Texas House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability, to the Texas Health Policy Forum on December 2 in Austin for a session focused on health care affordability.

Taking place one month before the 90th Texas legislative session convenes, the forum is an intimate, informal policy exchange where participants can hear directly from legislators, ask questions, make connections, and leave with a clearer understanding of the current health policy landscape and what's ahead.

Register now to join us: https://bit.ly/THPF26

10/08/2026

The Rural Texas Maternal Health Assembly recently released the 2026 Rural Texas Maternal Health Rescue Plan, calling for a coordinated statewide strategy to strengthen maternal health care in rural Texas. With 60% of rural counties still maternity care deserts and 65% of rural hospitals no longer providing maternity care, the report outlines four new Code Red priorities to strengthen the workforce, sustain local care, and improve coordination. The report also highlights the essential role of primary care and preventive oral health care before, during, and after pregnancy.
Read the plan: bit.ly/RMHA-26

The co-conveners include:
Texas A&M Rural & Community Health Institute (Texas A&M University Health Science Center): Kia Parsi, Jacquelyn Alvarado
Texas Academy of Family Physicians: Tom Banning, Jonathan Nelson
Texas Health Institute: Ankit Sanghavi, Stephanie Ondrias
Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals: John Henderson
Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC): Jana Eubank, Shelby Tracy, Daniela de Luna Oliveras
RMHA Senior Policy Advisor: Helen Kent Davis
Special thanks to the TLL Temple Foundation for generously funding the Assembly's work.

September 2026 by  2026 Rural Texas Maternal Health Rescue Plan Why Rural Maternal Health? Strong maternal health systems are essential to the future of rural Texas. Yet rural communities continue to face significant challenges in accessing maternal and primary care. These challenges require coordi...

10/05/2026

What happens when a community has enough roads, schools, and jobs but not enough access to primary care? In recognition of National Primary Care Week, the Texas Primary Care Consortium is bringing together primary care voices and community leaders for a webinar to explore that question on a webinar tomorrow.
Register now: https://bit.ly/tpcc10-26

10/02/2026

This week, the co-conveners of the Rural Texas Maternal Health Assembly were pleased to present the 2nd edition of the Rural Texas Maternal Health Rescue Plan, From Rescue to Moonshot, to legislative staff.

Rural maternal health care fosters healthy families, sustains strong communities, and promotes economic prosperity. 60% of rural Texas counties are maternity care deserts.

The new edition of the plan builds on the progress of the 89th Legislature, which enacted three of the four Code Red priorities in whole or in part, and outlines 12 priorities to safeguard rural maternal health and measurably improve outcomes within five years.

The co-conveners include:
Texas A&M Rural & Community Health Institute (Texas A&M University Health Science Center): Kia Parsi, Jacquelyn Alvarado
Texas Academy of Family Physicians: Tom Banning, Jonathan Nelson
Texas Health Institute: Ankit Sanghavi, Stephanie Ondrias
Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals: John Henderson
Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC)Health Centers: Jana Eubank, Shelby Tracy, Daniela de Luna Oliveras
RMHA Senior Policy Advisor: Helen Kent Davis
Special thanks to the TLL Temple Foundation for generously funding the Assembly's work.

Read the plan: https://texashealthinstitute.org/rural-texas-maternal-health-rescue-plan/

09/22/2026

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how oral health is measured, delivered, and integrated into the broader health system. In a recent Texas Oral Health Coalition webinar, Natalia Chalmers, DDS, MHSc, PhD, took a systems-level look at the evidence behind AI-assisted diagnostics, what these tools mean for access, quality of care, and how policy and regulation are evolving to keep pace.
Watch the recording:

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how oral health is mea...

09/21/2026

What happens when a community has enough roads, schools, and jobs but not enough access to primary care? TPCC is bringing together clinicians and community leaders from across Texas to explore that question on October 6. The webinar will consider what Texas loses when primary care becomes harder to access and what becomes possible when communities treat primary care not only as a health care service, but as part of the infrastructure that helps them function and thrive.

Register now: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tHHo1olwT0O-U2n6pv9oBA #/registration

08/31/2026

As Texas reviews key parts of its health and human services system, the next question is: how well are the structures connecting policy, financing, delivery, and local implementation equipped for the challenges ahead?

Our latest Texas Health Lens post looks at what's emerging across primary care, rural health, public health, and health care affordability: the need for alignment, local implementation capacity, and shared accountability. As Texas moves forward with significant new investments, the strength of individual institutions will remain essential, and so will the infrastructure connecting them.

Read the full post: https://texashealthinstitute.org/texas-health-lens-when-health-challenges-cross-institutional-lines/

08/28/2026

Join legislative, health system, and advocacy leaders for a timely conversation at the Texas Health Policy Forum. Taking place just one month before the 90th Texas legislative session convenes, the forum will provide a space for candid, solution-oriented dialogue about the issues that matter most for the health of Texans.

Register now for the unique opportunity to hear directly from legislators, ask questions, make connections, and leave with a greater understanding of the current health policy landscape and what’s ahead.

The Long Center for the Performing Arts, Austin, TX
December 2, 2026 | 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Learn more and register: bit.ly/THPF26