JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

Nursing school opens new Austin-area campus and is enrolling students stat

The first term begins September 30.

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Amid the worst health crisis the world has seen in modern times, Austin continues its efforts to grow its medical community. And now the area has attracted one of the largest educators of nurses in the United States in a move that primes Austin to become the nerve center of training for the next generation of Texas healthcare workers.

In late July, Galen College of Nursing announced it will open a new Austin campus at 1201 Louis Henna Blvd., in North Austin. The 26,000-square-foot campus is the second school Galen will open after becoming part of HCA Healthcare — Austin-based St. David’s HealthCare’s national partner — in 2020. The other new Galen campus is in Miami.

Galen was founded more than 30 years ago and also boasts campuses in San Antonio; Louisville and Hazard, Kentucky; Tampa Bay, Florida; and Cincinnati.

The school, which shares property with St. David’s Surgical Hospital, aims to become “a premier career destination for nurses while helping the nation’s increasing nursing workforce needs.”

Focused solely on nursing education, Galen is developing a state-of-the-art educational facility with advanced patient simulation labs and classroom learning environments designed to encourage hands-on learning.

Galen’s Austin campus will offer three nursing programs:

Three-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN)
Licensed Vocational Nursing to Associate Degree in Nursing Bridge (LVN to ADN Bridge)

The first term for three-year BSN program will begin September 30, and the first term for the LVN and LVN to BSN programs is scheduled to start January 3, 2022. Enrollment is currently underway.

In addition to its three in-person programs, Galen will continue to offer online RN to BSN and MSN programs for nurses aspiring to advance their education.

“We are thrilled to bring our 30 years of experience exclusively educating nurses to the community and look forward to providing new opportunities to those called to nursing in the Austin area,” says Mark Vogt, Galen CEO. “At Galen, we are uniquely positioned to help expand the pipeline of qualified nurses in Austin and are committed to helping stem the nursing shortage threatening the delivery of quality care across the country.”

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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