The council that runs shared computer systems for ten Texas health licensing boards meets Sept. 21 to review the unfinished half of a network overhaul ordered after a 2024 ransomware attack spread from one small board across the system and carried data out with it.
The Health Professions Council has nine employees and no authority over any of the boards it serves. Created in 1993 on a Sunset Commission recommendation as an alternative to merging the boards outright, it exists to let them share what none could afford alone: a licensing database covering more than a million Texans, a single toll-free complaint line that fields about 2,250 calls a month, and technology staff for agencies too small to keep their own.
The attack began in July 2024 at the small state agency that licenses physical and occupational therapists. That agency told people it had exposed names, Social Security numbers and birth dates, and filed a breach notice with the attorney general. The Dispatch found no news coverage describing the incident as anything wider. A Legislative Budget Board budget document from February 2025 does: because the therapy board sat on the council’s shared network, the attack “was able to spread to other portions of the HPC network and resulted in the exfiltration of data before being countered by threat detection software.” The document does not say whose data.
The state’s technology department took over security for the shared servers in 2025 and absorbed the cost, which it put at $500,000 to $800,000. The second step — physically moving the machines out of the Bush state office building and into state data centers — is scheduled for 2027, and budget writers recommended $985,131 for it. Nine agencies sit on the network, including two that license geoscientists and represent insurance consumers rather than health professionals.
The council’s own annual report describes that same migration across two paragraphs as a modernization delivering better threat detection, and does not mention the attack. Also on the agenda: a presentation from Vulcan AI, an Austin company founded in 2025 whose products automate permit and license applications, and whose flagship already has a Texas purchasing agreement the state says is exempt from competitive bidding. The council has posted no minutes since 2023, so the June minutes up for approval Sept. 21 are not available to read first.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 10 a.m. CT Monday, September 21, 2026. Notice TRD 2026005342 was filed September 8.
- Where
- George H.W. Bush State Office Building, 1801 Congress Ave., Room 10-102, Austin, with a hybrid Zoom option. Access details from John Monk, john@hpc.texas.gov.
- Governing body & chair
- Health Professions Council — one representative named by each health licensing agency and by the governor’s office. Ralph Harper is listed as presiding officer, Casey Nichols as assistant presiding officer.
- Format
- Full council meeting. Minutes, a fourth-quarter budget briefing, a technology report covering the shared network, database issues and the Laserfiche records system, an agency roundtable with the Vulcan AI presentation, and public comment.
- Live video
- Hybrid Zoom, but the notice posts no public link — attendance requires contacting staff. No recordings are published, and the council’s meetings page carries nothing after 2023.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · Council meetings page · Most recent annual report
Council members
- Ralph Harper — presiding officer; physical and occupational therapy board.
- Casey Nichols — assistant presiding officer; State Board of Dental Examiners.
- Kristin Benton — Texas Board of Nursing.
- Brint Carlton — Texas Medical Board.
- Dan Carroll — Texas State Board of Pharmacy.
- Boyd Bush — Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
- Janice McCoy — Texas Optometry Board.
- Brittany Sharkey — State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
- Darrel Spinks — Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.
- Maria Hanes — Texas Funeral Service Commission.
- Cesar Pusan — Office of the Governor.
- Melissa Juarez — Office of the Attorney General.
Roster from the council’s fiscal 2025 annual report, published February 1, 2026 and checked September 18; the council posts no current membership page, so this list may be out of date. Two discrepancies could not be resolved: state law sets the council at 13 members and does not list the attorney general’s office, but the council’s own report runs to 14 seats and includes it. The report also says officer terms end August 31 of odd-numbered years — August 31, 2025 for the current pair — while describing Harper as the sitting chair. Confirm who presides before publication. Staff contact: John Monk, director, john@hpc.texas.gov, 512-305-8550.