Central Health to open medical respite at Brackenridge site, pushes integration with Community Care and Sendero as FY25 finances show planned reserve drawdown

Central Health officials told the Travis County Commissioners Court that the agency will open a medical respite program with about 40–50 beds at the Clinical Education Center (the former Brackenridge children’s hospital) in late July, and that the system is moving toward closer operational integration with Community Care (CommunityCare) and Sendero to reduce fragmentation and shorten patient wait times.

Dr. Pat Lee, Central Health’s CEO, described the medical respite and a colocated clinic as adding “meaningful capacity for people experiencing homelessness to have a place to rest, recover, and heal,” and said the clinic will offer a broad array of services geared to the respite population including primary care, psychiatric and behavioral health, addiction services, wound care, pharmacy and physical therapy. Lee and other Central Health leaders said permitting delays pushed the opening back about a month, but the system remains on track for a late‑July start.

Financial snapshot and budget context: Jeff Knoedel, Central Health’s chief financial officer, presented April 2025 year‑to‑date financials (seven months into FY25). Key figures noted in the briefing:

• Property tax collections were at about 97.2% of the…