CDC announced the establishment of a new center for disease forecasting and outbreak analytics, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

• Georgia: CDC on Wednesday announced it is establishing a new center focused on disease forecasting and outbreak analytics. The Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics will "accelerate access to and use of data for public health decision-makers who need information to mitigate the effects of disease threats, such as social and economic disruption," according to the agency. Leadership of the team includes Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist who will serve as the center's science director. Funding from the American Rescue Plan will be used to establish the center, but currently there is no timeline for when it will officially launch, Becker's Hospital Review reports. (Carbajal, Becker's Hospital Review, 8/18)

• Louisiana: Louisiana Healthcare Connections awarded Carla Brown, a Louisiana nurse, a $25,000 honorarium on Tuesday for vaccinating 2,000 residents in a personal door-to-door campaign. "All I want to do is save lives," Brown said. "All I ask is that you get vaccinated. It's no reason for [anybody] to die now. We have a vaccine." In addition, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said the state's health department has launched an initiative named after Brown to encourage door-to-door vaccine outreach efforts. According to Becker's Hospital Review, the program has recruited 14 nurses so far. (Carbajal, Becker's Hospital Review, 8/18)

• Texas: The Paris Independent School District (PISD) on Tuesday amended its dress code to include masks for students in an attempt to circumvent Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) statewide ban on mask mandates, The Hill reports. In a statement, the school district said it "believes the dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues, and therefore has amended the PISD dress code to protect our students and employees." In addition, the district noted that amending the dress code was within its statutory authority under Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code. The move from PISD comes after another school district in the state said it would keep its mask mandate in place despite a recent ruling from the Texas Supreme Court upholding Abbott's ban. (Folley, The Hill, 8/18)