Coronavirus in rural America (Part LX): mental health access improves in Texas

Here is Raga Justin's June 9, 2020 story in the Texas Tribune, "In rural Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought more accessible mental health care."  Here's the lede:

The coronavirus pandemic has created widespread fear and economic anxiety across Texas, and mental health experts and advocates say rural areas — which already had fewer providers and higher rates of suicide and drug overdoses — could see more severe mental health impacts than the state’s urban areas. They are predicting a lingering wave of trauma and depression even after the pandemic’s immediate effects recede and lockdowns lift. 

But it’s not all bad news. Although the pandemic has aggravated existing problems, the speedy rollout of telemedicine may prove to be a boon for rural residents who urgently need mental health care. 

Justin quotes Andy Keller, president and CEO of Texas-based Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute: 

There’s a lot of bad things happening right now because of COVID-19.  But in some ways, people in rural Texas have better access to health care than they’d ever had before. All the barriers to them accessing physicians across the state have been lifted.