AUSTIN, Texas, April 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Responding to the growing demand for high-quality hospice care in Central Texas, VITAS Healthcare has expanded its reach in the Austin area by opening a new administrative office in Pflugerville. With the addition of this North Austin location, VITAS now serves the entire metro area and surrounding counties, bringing greater access to compassionate, expert end-of-life care for patients and their families.

A trusted national hospice provider with a 45-year history, VITAS has served South Austin since 2022. The Pflugerville expansion enhances service accessibility across the region and creates new job opportunities for healthcare professionals in Travis and Williamson counties.

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

“Texans have relied on VITAS for more than four decades, and we’re proud to strengthen our presence in Austin to serve even more families,” said Joseph Brickner, vice president of operations. “This second homebase location for our care teams helps ensure that patients, families and healthcare partners in northern communities have seamless access to the specialized support they need at the end of life.”

Grand opening celebrations for the Kyle and Pflugerville offices are scheduled for late June.

VITAS hospice care is delivered wherever a patient calls home—including private residences, nursing homes, assisted living communities and inpatient settings such as the VITAS Inpatient Unit at Villa Rosa. Each patient is supported by a full-service interdisciplinary care team that includes:

• Physicians, nurses and hospice aides for skilled medical care and symptom management
• Social workers and chaplains offering emotional and spiritual support
• Trained volunteers providing companionship and additional assistance
• Bereavement specialists supporting families through loss and grief

As part of its continued investment in Central Texas, VITAS is hiring compassionate professionals for clinical and non-clinical roles, including registered nurses, hospice aides/CNAs, social workers, patient care secretaries, chaplains and community representatives. With a reputation for stability, support and personal growth, VITAS is proud to be a best-in-class employer for those called to care.

VITAS provides specialized support and training for clinicians to enhance end-of-life care expertise. Physicians, nurses and case managers can download the VITAS mobile referral app for quick access to hospice eligibility guidelines, seamless referral tools, educational resources and more. The company also offers free monthly continuing education webinars for CE/CEUs credit for the medical community.

With locations in North and South Austin, VITAS now proudly serves patients throughout Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Gillespie, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties.

About VITAS® Healthcare 

Established in 1978, VITAS Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 56 hospice programs in 15 states (Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 12,001 professionals who care for patients with advanced illness, primarily in the patients’ homes, and also in the company’s 30 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the first quarter of 2025, VITAS reported an average daily census of 22,336. Visit www.vitas.com.

Media inquiries contact: media@vitas.com, 877-848-2701 

People certainly haven’t stopped moving to Austin, but the flow of newbies to Texas has slowed down significantly — including in the capital city.

That’s according to real estate platform Redfin, which released a study based on U.S. census data in April detailing changes in net domestic migration — i.e. the amount a population rose or fell due to people moving from other parts of the country — in the country’s 50 most populous metros in 2024. It noted that Texas, Florida, and other parts of the so-called Sun Belt were the hardest hit in comparison to prior years.

Despite maintaining the largest proportion of its inflow out of all major Texas cities, Austin still had an inflow of 8,239 fewer people than it did in 2023. Austin gained a net total of 13,980 people during 2024, compared to 22,219 in 2023. That’s about a 37 percent decrease.

Some similar studies note that people who would be moving to Austin — or people who already live in Austin — are opting for a life in the more affordable and laid-back suburbs like Hutto, Georgetown, and Manor. Some suburbs like Round Rock are particularly good at drawing newcomers for whom money isn’t a top concern. Either way, the suburb is becoming a heavyweight for Texans.

The Redfin study echoes the economic impetus and attributes some of the spike and drop in population growth to pandemic prices.

“Although the cost of buying or renting a home in much of Florida and Texas is now flattening out or falling, it rose rapidly during the pandemic, when migration into those states skyrocketed,” the study says. “Places like Tampa, Dallas and Austin were once seen as affordable alternatives to high-cost cities like San Francisco and New York, but now the gap in housing costs between big-city job centers and Sun Belt metros has shrunk.”

Other concerns it lists for both Texas and Florida include a return to working in big-city offices; natural disasters raising insurance premiums; and a high cost of living paired with economic uncertainty, influencing people to say in their current homes. It even cites competition from more affordable places. Even though Texas is often considered fairly bargain friendly, there’s often a cheaper option than its bigger cities; the report offers Minneapolis and Indianapolis as an alternative to Miami or Austin.

Here’s how other Texas metros stack up:

Dallas gained 35,229 people in 2023 and only 12,927 in 2024. That’s a reduction of 22,302, more than half of the 2023 figure. Houston saw an inflow of 39,461 movers in 2023 and 21,240 in 2024. That leaves a reduction of 18,221, slightly less than half.

Next up was San Antonio, which gained 30,103 people in 2023 and 18,981 in 2024, resulting in a comparative loss of 11,122. Finally, Fort Worth gained a relatively small set of 21,180 movers in 2023, which dropped to 11,623 in 2024; a decrease of 9,557.

On the other side of the spectrum, some metros are just doing especially well at holding onto its residents, the report points out. New York’s outflow shrank the most out of any other metro. Los Angeles followed. A decreased outflow for these cities is still a loss, just like a decreased inflow across Texas is still a gain — but it looks like the gap is closing slower now.

The top 10 metros where net domestic migration fell most in 2024 are:

• Tampa, Florida
• Dallas, Texas
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Houston, Texas
• Miami, Florida
• Orlando, Florida
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• San Antonio, Texas
• Fort Worth, Texas
• Austin, Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – The Austin Police Department is investigating three deaths in the same East Austin neighborhood within just three days.

Austin Police said there isn’t a connection between these homicides that they know of at this time.

2 dead at Aldrich 51st Apartments

What we know:

The latest homicide happened on Sunday night.

Blood-stained concrete was still visible Monday afternoon in the parking garage of the Aldrich 51st Apartments in the Mueller neighborhood.

READ MORE: Double homicide in East Austin: Police investigating

Police said at around 9:30 Sunday night, two Black men, around 20 years old, were found with life-threatening injuries. Despite efforts to save them, they died within the hour and were pronounced dead at the scene.

APD has since identified the two as 24-year-old Shamar Roach and 32-year-old Kendrick Parker. 

Police say that a preliminary investigation shows the shooting started as a child custody dispute between Parker and Roach and another group that included a man and a woman. The altercation then turned physical and the other man shot Parker and Roach.

The suspects had fled the area, but were later detained. They have not been identified.

Man found dead near creek

What we know:

Just a few days ago, Angel Santos-Martinez was found dead near a creek, just down the street. He was believed to be in his early 20s.

READ MORE: Body found near creek in East Austin identified

Police said on April 18, around 9:50 a.m., officers responded to a check welfare call in the 2900 block of Lovell Drive. The caller said they saw what appeared to be a body under a bridge in the grass.

Police said the victim had likely been dead for “quite some time.”

Police said it appears the victim was shot by suspects who remain at large.

Residents voice concerns

Local perspective:

“Nineteen shots, yeah, I live on the third floor, the parking garage is right there,” Aldrich 51st Apartments resident Michelle said.

“What’s next? They get through the doors and start shooting people,” Michelle said.

They said they are not used to this in this area.

“Stuff like that doesn’t happen a lot here, I’ve lived here four years and that’s the first time anything’s ever happened like that,” another Aldrich 51st Apartments resident said.

Residents said they’re on edge.

“I don’t think a female that lives by themselves, that is a young lady, have all this happen and not be scared to come out. I mean, what am I supposed to think or feel?” Michelle said.

What you can do:

You may also contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477. A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest.