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Jeffery L. Milligan (far left) and Timothy P. Shea of the U.S. Veterans Administration and UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., (right) applaud Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who spoke about taking care of the ‘great warriors who have protected America.’
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HARLINGEN (April 6, 2009) — In an indoor ceremony witnessed by dozens of decorated Rio Grande Valley veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ceremonially broke ground April 6 for the $40 million Harlingen Ambulatory Surgery and Specialty Outpatient Center. This new center will be a major educational site for UT Health Science Center medical residents and students based at the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen.

A part of the new VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System, the three-story, 120,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery and outpatient center is expected to open in January 2011. It will be located on the Health Science Center’s Harlingen campus, immediately behind the RAHC Medical Education Division.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and other speakers noted that the construction of the new facility, along with recently initiated inpatient and emergency room service contracts with Valley community hospitals, will eliminate 95 percent of veterans’ travel to San Antonio for health care. The hospital partners are Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen and Brownsville, Edinburg Regional Medical Center and McAllen Medical Center.

Speakers praised the efforts of University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.; William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, interim president of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio; and Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., UT System executive vice chancellor for health affairs, to forge an educational partnership that is a key element of the Valley veterans care expansion.

Regional Academic Health Center has major educational presence
Dr. Cigarroa, who was president of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio for eight years before becoming chancellor, said 700 students have been educated at the RAHC Medical Education Division since it opened seven years ago. “The University of Texas System is proud to be a part of this wonderful day as we expand medical student and resident education and translate new discoveries into therapies for the veterans,” he said.

HSC interns and residents will provide care in the new facility
Sen. Hutchison thanked the Health Science Center for pledging more interns and residents over time. “We expect a lot more medical residents and interns from UT, because that will enhance the health care of our veterans,” she said.

Ceremony participants are (left to right) Jeffery L. Milligan, acting director, South Texas Veterans Health Care System; Felix Rodriguez, immediate past commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars District 18; Timothy P. Shea, network director, Veterans Integrated Service Network 17 VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network; U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar; Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell; U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison; Cameron County Judge Carlos A. Cascos; UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.; Homer Gallegos, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8788; and Emilio de los Santos, Veterans Alliance board member. Photos by Janine Marie Campbell

Permanently meeting the needs of health care in the Valley
Sen. Hutchison noted that new physicians are more likely to stay in areas where they do their internship and residency training. Because the Valley has a lower physician-to-population ratio than other areas of Texas and the nation, the RAHC is playing a crucial role in training medical students, interns and residents where there is a critical need for them. “Plus, [in this new building] they will receive knowledge of how to care for veterans,” Sen. Hutchison said. “This is a great win, a great victory for all of us.”

The senator said the new developments represent a “down payment” toward one day having a VA hospital in the region. Rep. Cuellar added, “Today, we lay the foundation for a veterans hospital in the Valley.”

Dr. Cigarroa said “teamwork at the greatest level” has resulted in the steps forward for veterans and for Valley medical education. He mentioned the congressional delegations; Dr. Shine; Dr. Henrich; Glenn Halff, M.D., interim dean of the School of Medicine; Leonel Vela, M.D., M.P.H., regional dean of the RAHC; Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell; former Harlingen mayors Col. Bill Card and Randy Whittington; Bob Shepard, Harlingen community leader and member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and his wife, Anne; and others.

Veterans looking forward to improved access to health care
Felix Rodriguez, immediate past commander of Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) District 18, who is working with the Hidalgo County Veterans Service Office, said he was pleased the new ambulatory/outpatient center will be built. He walked with other veterans in 2005 on a 250-mile march from the Valley to San Antonio to call attention to the need for a VA hospital in the Valley. A trip by automobile from Harlingen to San Antonio and back takes about 10 hours, consuming gas and time spent away from family.

George Solis of Raymondville, commander-elect of Texas VFW District 15, said he was pleased with the collaboration to build the new facility. “Partnership, that’s the only way it could have happened for veterans and the disabled,” he said.

Timothy P. Shea, director of the VA Heart of Texas Health Care Network, and Jeffery L. Milligan, acting director of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, represented the VA. In 1983, the nation had 239 ambulatory surgery centers, Shea said. Today, there are more than 5,000. These are centers that provide surgical services without hospital admissions.

According to VA materials, the new center will house six surgical suites, colonoscopy and cystoscopy suites, medicine and surgery specialty outpatient clinics, prosthetics care, an amputee clinic and a substance abuse treatment clinic. The many other services will include cataract removals, digital X-rays, CT scans and MRIs.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $36 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 25,600 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.