FEATURED: Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Coréz, during Hidalgo County COVID-19 Memorial Day, on Tuesday, March 21, 2022, at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance.
Photograph Courtesy HIDALGO COUNTY FACEBOOK
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Medical leaders “spoke with honesty, with truth, and brutal candor,” in Spring 2020 when warning about dangers of COVID-19, says Judge Cortéz
By DAVID A. DÍAZ
[email protected]
Leaders representing dozens of area medical and healthcare organizations accurately predicted a public health catastrophe as COVID-19 first arrived on the scene more than two years ago, which convinced Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortéz to take dramatic actions that arguably prevented what could have been even more deaths, hospitalizations, and social and economic misery since March 2020.
“Imagine. It was so deeply disturbing moments to have medical experts, the very people we rely on for our health, tell me, mass numbers of casualties were about to visit our community,” Cortéz said. “I remember distinctly sitting in my conference room, along with a group of doctors, some who are here today, who said they represent more than 100 medical (organizations), and together they spoke with one voice in warning me that we were then in great danger of losing many lives by this disease.”
Cortéz was one of the speakers on Tuesday, March 21, 2022, during Hidalgo County COVID-19 Memorial Day, hosted by DHR Health at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance.
Anchored in southwest Edinburg on a 130-acre site, with a growing presence in neighboring McAllen, Rio Grande City, Mission, and Brownsville, DHR Health offers some of the most comprehensive medical care on the U.S. southern border, with more than 1,400 nurses and 600+ physicians providing care in 70+ specialties and sub-specialties.
DHR Health is the flagship teaching hospital for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine and encompasses a general acute hospital with the only dedicated women’s hospital south of San Antonio, a rehabilitation hospital, a behavioral hospital, more than 70 clinics Valley-wide, advanced cancer services, the only transplant program in the Rio Grande Valley – and the only 24/7 Level 1 Trauma Center south of San Antonio.
On Tuesday, November 16, 2021, Driscoll Health System, in partnership with DHR Health, held a groundbreaking ceremony for Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, located at 2820 W. Michelangelo Drive in Edinburg, which is being built on the site of the DHR Health campus, next to DHR Health’s The Women’s Hospital at Renaissance.
The new, independently operated, eight-level pediatric hospital will further the mission of Driscoll Children’s Hospital founder Clara Driscoll to provide medical care to all the children of South Texas. The building is expected to be completed in Spring 2023.
The facility represents a combined investment of more than $105 million. Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley will operate with more than 500 employees, creating significant economic impact and new job opportunities for clinical, ancillary and support staff in the Valley.
Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, Ltd (“DHR”) and its general partner, RGV Med, Inc. (“RGV Med”) own and operate a 519 licensed bed general acute care hospital located at 5501 South McColl in Edinburg. The facility is one of the largest physician-owned facilities in the United States that began as an ambulatory surgery center in 1997.
REASONS FOR COVID-19 MEMORIAL DAY IN HIDALGO COUNTY
The intentions of COVID-19 Memorial Day in Hidalgo County – which will be an annual event for the foreseeable future – are to remember those who have died from complications of the airborne virus, to reflect on the community’s response, and to resolve to overcome the ongoing pandemic.
Since the first case was diagnosed in Hidalgo County on Saturday, March 21, 2020, nearly 200,000 people in Hidalgo County had tested positive for the virus, and nearly 4,000 residents had died from the disease, as of Tuesday, March 21, 2022.
During the solemn gathering at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, the county judge spoke about the very difficult position in which he found himself, facing the coming danger of a very infectious airborne illness for which there was no cure.
“Like all county judges in Texas, by law, I knew that I was head of emergency management for Hidalgo County,” Cortéz said. “We, as a community, needed to take immediate action, they (leaders of the medical organizations) told me, ‘We needed to shut down things in our community, we needed to close all but the most essential businesses, we needed to keep people at home for their own safety,’ and more specifically, they told me I needed to use my authority to shut down commerce in Hidalgo County.”
Texas Government Code Chapter 418 gives the county judge the power to declare a local disaster within the county under certain circumstances, according to the Texas Association of Counties.
A “Disaster” is defined for these purposes under Section 418.004(1) as:… the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural or man-made cause, including fire, flood, earthquake, wind, storm, wave action, oil spill or other water contamination, volcanic activity, epidemic, air contamination, blight, drought, infestation, explosion, riot, hostile military or paramilitary action, other public calamity requiring emergency action, or energy emergency.”
“How do you second-guess all those medical experts, how do you begin to debate a course of action they argued for me to take, or that lives would be lost?” Cortéz continued. “As we know, I followed their advice, and countless communities around the world followed similar advice from their own medical experts.”
The actions by the county judge and the four Hidalgo County commissioners were as dramatic as the astonishing predictions of the COVID-19 threat, such as the following orders in the opening weeks of the pandemic’s presence in deep South Texas:
• Work Safe Measures document – April 8, 2020
• Amended Shetler at Home Order – April 7, 2020
• Emergency Order for Shelter at Home – March 25, 2020
• Amended Order of Local Disaster due to Public Health Emergency – March 20, 2020
•Declaration of Local Disaster due to Public Health Emergency – March 17, 2020
•Commissioners Court Order – March 17, 2020
• Letter to Texas Honorable Governor Greg Abbott – March 17, 2020
“Did it cause pain? Yes. Was the community frustrated? Yes. Was there financial hardship? Absolutely,” he told the socially-distanced invited audience of medical, healthcare, legislative, public safety, and government officials. “But I stand before you today, I must declare that I have not a single regret about the safety measures that we launched, and that so many people in this room helped in that, and I hope no one in this room has a single regret that collectively we acted on the best science available to achieve one common goal, and that was keeping our community safe.”
Describing the COVID-19 pandemic as two of the most challenging years in the history of Hidalgo County,
Cortéz said, “While we are optimistic, we are also reminded by the physical distance and the masks that some of us are wearing today that this fight is not over.
“I hope my prayer is set to words for the men and women gathered in this stage will soothe our souls, will relax our minds, and will allow for the healing to continue,” he concluded. “God knows, we need that.”
The county proclamation, approved on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, that declared every March 21 as Hidalgo County COVID-19 Memorial Day, follows:
Whereas, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization formally declared COVID-19 a global pandemic; and
Whereas, Just 10 days later, on March 21, 2020, the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 in Hidalgo County was confirmed; and
Whereas, since that first confirmed case in Hidalgo County, nearly 200,000 more of our families, friends and neighbors have been infected with the virus, and an additional 78 million of our fellow citizens have been infected in the United States; and
Whereas, this disease has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Hidalgo County residents, as well as the lives of nearly one million of our fellow citizens in the United States; and
Whereas, beyond the physical toll, the Brookings Institute estimates that COVID-19 has caused a 3.5 percent contraction of the global economy in 2020 alone, the largest contraction since World War II; and
Whereas, Hidalgo County will have been under emergency operation status for 746 continuous days on March 21, 2022, testing all of Hidalgo County government to respond like few times before in its history, particularly the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Health and Human Services; and
Whereas, other entities in Hidalgo County, such as our first responders, our health care professionals, our educators, our business community, and our essential workers have contributed to the well-being of our community at this critical time; and
Whereas, all the residents of Hidalgo County have been impacted by this largest health crisis in a century, and their response proved inspirational as neighbor banded with neighbor, and demonstrated the virtues of community;
Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Hidalgo County Commissioner’s Court designates the 21st day of each March as Hidalgo County COVID-19 Memorial Day, and asks all residents to use this fateful anniversary as a day of remembrance, reflection, and resolve on behalf of those family, friends and neighbors who succumbed to this terrible virus, and prayers for the continued healing of those who have survived.
The transcription of the remarks delivered by Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortéz at the Hidalgo County COVID-19 Memorial Day event on Tuesday, March 21, 2022, follows:
RICHARD F. CORTÉZ
HIDALGO COUNTY JUDGE
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today.
It’s just so hard to imagine for our community – led by so many people in this room today that I see – have been dealing with this pandemic for over two long years.
They are two of the most challenging years in the history of Hidalgo County, and while we are optimistic, we are also reminded by the physical distance and the masks that some of us are wearing today that this fight is not over.
As we remember those we have lost in this terrible disease, I can’t help but reflect all that this community has endured.
I keep returning to one memory in particular. Like all county judges in Texas, by law, I knew that I was head of emergency management for Hidalgo County.
When we began to try to comprehend what this community might be in for, I remember distinctly sitting in my conference room, along with a group of doctors, some who are here today, who said they represent more than 100 medical (organizations), and together they spoke with one voice in warning me that we were then in great danger of losing many lives by this disease.
Imagine. It was so deeply disturbing moments to have medical experts, the very people we rely on for our health, tell me, mass numbers of casualties were about to visit our community.
How do you second-guess all those medical experts, how do you begin to debate a course of action they argued for me to take, or that lives would be lost? As we know, I followed their advice, and countless communities around the world followed similar advice from their own medical experts.
Did it cause pain? Yes. Was the community frustrated? Yes. Was there financial hardship? Absolutely.
But I stand before you today, I must declare that I have not a single regret about the safety measures that we launched, and that so many people in this room helped in that, and I hope no one in this room has a single regret that collectively we acted on the best science available to achieve one common goal, and that was keeping our community safe.
We’re now gathered two years to the day after the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in Hidalgo County. We give our thanks to the hospitals and health care workers who worked courageously to help our community at the time of critical need.
We give our thanks to the first responders who took on the unknown in the name of safety.
We give thanks to our teachers and educators and school employees who work selfless to teach and feed our children, and to make them less afraid during these very scary times.
We give thanks for our business people, who adapted quickly so they could continue serving our community.
We give thanks for all the essential workers, from custodians to truckers to medical supply people to nursing home employees to food bank workers to funeral directors.
All of these people endured hardships to keep our community functioning.
We give thanks to Hidalgo County employees. I’m especially proud at the dedication demonstrated by this public service.
Today marks the 746th days Hidalgo County has been working under emergency operations.
Finally, we give thanks for spiritual leaders, some of whom are gathered with us today. During our darkest hours, they constantly gave us a sense of hope and a sense or purpose.
It’s been two years of suffering, two years of losing loved ones, two years of financial hardships, two years of mental anguish, two of the most challenging years of our lives.
Nearly 200,000 of our family members, friends and neighbors have tested positive for this virus in those two years, and we have lost nearly 4,000 of our loved ones.
Two years ago, those doctors who came into my office were not wrong with their warnings.
Two years ago, these medical experts help put into motion a community response that began with the very people now gathered in this room.
Two years ago, those people, whose sole concern was the well-being of the people of Hidalgo County, spoke with honesty, with truth, and with brutal candor.
So we are here publicly to thank every person in this room for acting in the best interest of the people of Hidalgo County, despite the protests, despite the criticisms, despite the second-guessing, and despite the Monday morning quarterbacking.
Everyone gathered here provided leadership and inspiration. You provided safety and hope.
Since our community suffered through this pandemic, too often you put your own suffering (aside)
because you had a job to do. You had to make this community safe.
That sense of purpose, that drive, that dedication, got this community through some of the darkest days of its history.
That notion of people helping people is the foundation – love of community, and of our society.
Yet the fight is not over. We continue to heal while we continue to suffer. Our bodies are tired, but so are our souls.
Today, March 21, is COVID Memorial Day.
We must resolve to make time for ourselves.
I hope my prayer is set to words for the men and women gathered in this stage will soothe our souls, will relax our minds, and will allow for the healing to continue.
God knows, we need that.
The video of the Hidalgo County COVID 19 Memorial Day gathering for Tuesday, March 21, 2022 is available online at:
https://www.facebook.com/DHRhealth/videos/652528972707337
Researchers at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to study motor recovery in stroke survivors
Dr. Michael R. Dobbs, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology in the UTRGV School of Medicine, has been awarded a $443,963 grant to research the motor recovery, along with the brain and spine degeneration, of 30 stroke survivors over the next three years.
The grant was awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), which is part of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dobbs said the R15 NIH grant will allow him to study whether degeneration after a stroke affects some areas of the brain more progressively than others, and whether that degeneration extends to the level of the spinal cord.
“We want to determine how this degeneration impacts the ability to move the first three months after a stroke,” Dobbs said.
The project, titled “Role of Alternative Sensorimotor Pathway Degeneration in Motor Function of in Acute Stroke,” will be led by principal investigator Dobbs, and co-PI Dr. Kelsey Baker, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the UTRGV School of Medicine.
Baker said it is estimated that, by 2030, an additional 3.4 million adults will experience a stroke.
“White Hispanic males are projected to experience the highest rates,” she said, “In addition, preliminary estimates from our work suggest that stroke is a particular concern in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.”
Dr. Thomas Spencer, Associate Vice President for UTRGV’s Division of Research, said the division fully supports the work Dobbs and his research team are doing.
“Their search for advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of patients needing neurological care is important – and in many cases critical – not just to patients in the Valley, but around the world,” he said.
This federal funding will provide the means to collect high-resolution and advanced neuroimaging protocols (MRI) through one of the first studies to capture neuronal pathway changes in the spinal cord in acute stroke.
The study will be conducted at the newly established UTRGV Institute of Neuroscience in Harlingen.
NIH grant reviewers called the grant application “a highly translational application from an experienced clinician-scientist that could produce some intriguing new clinical science for stroke survivors, while creating an outstanding training opportunity for students at UTRGV.”
Dobbs said this Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) project will provide a valuable opportunity for medical students to be exposed to hypothesis-driven research within the Valley. It also will enhance the UTRGV-NIH research portfolio and provide medical students and undergraduate students opportunities to be at the forefront of research data collection and presentation.
“Additionally, the work will lead to publications in scientific journals, and could lead to additional funded projects through other NIH mechanisms,” he said.
The grant lasts through March 31, 2025.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas.
This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, Weslaco and South Padre Island.
UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.
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María González contributed to this article. For more on this and other Texas legislative news stories that affect the Rio Grande Valley metropolitan region, please log on to Titans of the Texas Legislature (TitansoftheTexasLegislature.com).
