Need to Know

Proposition 1, Five Years Later

This week at Dell Medical School, we're excited to celebrate the five-year anniversary of 2012's Proposition 1, which Travis County voters approved to raise property tax revenue in support of health care initiatives for Central Texas, including $35 million annually for a medical school. In the short time since, we've increased the number of medical residents and fellows providing care in Travis County from 218 to 287; enrolled two classes (with all of the students in the first class already working in community hospitals and clinics); collected nearly 100 ideas from the community for addressing serious health priorities; and opened UT Health Austin, the clinical practice of Dell Med, which serves as a learning lab for our efforts to reimagine care delivery.

Of course, this is only the beginning. I look forward to what the next five years will bring — and thank you for commitment, demonstrated daily, to the audacious idea that we can revolutionize how people get and stay healthy.

Clay Johnston, MD, PhD