FEATURED: John Hawkins, CEO, Texas Hospital Association, was the keynote speaker on Monday, March 4, 2024, during the inaugural COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day state observance, held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance. “This day is critical because it establishes a clear moment in time to honor and recognize the contributions and sacrifices of Texans who played crucial roles during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he explained. “March 4 also marks a time for us to memorialize the nearly 100,000 people in Texas who have lost their lives to COVID-19 since March 4, 2020 – the date the disease was first diagnosed in Texas. A day we will never forget.” Also shown in this image is, seated, Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-South Padre Island.
Photograph By CAMERON AUSTIN
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DHR Health, Texas hospitals praised for “keeping the lights on during a total time of darkness” during COVID-19 pandemic disaster in America
By DAVID A. DÍAZ
[email protected]
Four years after the first reported case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas was announced on March 4, 2020, many people still remember the fear, illnesses and deaths that took place, as well as the courage demonstrated by millions of Texans identified by the U.S. government as “essential workers” who kept society from falling apart during that disaster in the nation.
A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals.
COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a disease caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2. It can be very contagious and spreads quickly. More than one million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States between March 4, 2020 and July 10, 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
The federal Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 expired on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 remains a public health priority.
The essential workers in the Lone Star State who risked their health and lives by remaining on the job during the darkest months of the pandemic – especially before even an emergency vaccine was developed ready for use in December 2020 – were honored in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday, March 4, 2024, at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, as part of the first-ever COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day state observance.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine became available under federal emergency use authorization in individuals 16 years of age and older on Friday, December 11, 2020. Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, D-McAllen, was the author of House Bill 2166, Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-South Padre Island, was the sponsor of that measure, and DHR Health helped lobby the Texas Legislature in 2023 for its passage, which established COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day.
House Bill 2166 received final approval by the Texas Legislature on Friday, May 26, 2023, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, and became state law on Friday, September 1, 2023.
“When the world shut down, you showed up,” said Dr. Manish Singh, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director, DHR Health, who praised essential workers during the public gathering, hosted by DHR Health at its Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance.
“Today we reflect on those tireless healthcare workers everywhere and the countless lives saved. Also, we remember those we lost and how much it impacted our community,” Singh explained.
Several hundred area essential employees, many in the medical professions and law enforcement, along with elected leaders and public officials, were in attendance at the mid-morning event, which was open to the public.
The essential workers honored in the Rio Grande Valley and Texas during COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day are from major sectors of the U.S. economy, including:
• Health Care;
• Food and Agriculture;
• Law Enforcement/Public Safety/First Responders;
• Transportation and Logistics;
• Essential Manufacturing;
• Energy Workers;
• Public Service Workers;
• Communications; and
• Other Essential Workers.
DHR Health operates two general acute hospitals, the only dedicated women’s hospital south of San Antonio, a rehabilitation hospital, a behavioral hospital, and more than 70 clinics Valley-wide.
DHR Health offers the most comprehensive and sophisticated healthcare services in the Rio Grande Valley including – but not limited to – advanced cancer services, the only transplant program in the Rio Grande Valley, and as of September 8, 2021, the first 24/7 Designated Level One Trauma Center south of San Antonio.
DHR Health alone was the Rio Grande Valley’s single largest vaccination hub, providing more than 300,000 vaccinations through the pandemic, noted John Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer, Texas Hospital Association.
“While totally preventing community spread of COVID-19 was not realistic, hospitals embarked on an unprecedented venture alongside public health leaders to protect as many people as possible – rolling out massive vaccines campaigns, pumping out precaution messages, adjusting service lines to bend to new demands, launching programs to retain and find workers, administering new therapies and keeping the lights on during a total time of darkness,” Hawkins reported.
Hawkins was the keynote speaker during the inaugural COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day state observance held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance.
“This day is critical because it establishes a clear moment in time to honor and recognize the contributions and sacrifices of Texans who played crucial roles during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hawkins. “March 4 also marks a time for us to memorialize the people in Texas who have lost their lives to COVID-19 since March 4, 2020 – the date the disease was first diagnosed in Texas. A day we will never forget,” Hawkins added.
Founded in 1930, the Texas Hospital Association is the leadership organization and principal advocate for the state’s hospitals and health care systems. Based in Austin, THA enhances its members’ abilities to improve accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care for all Texans. One of the largest hospital associations in the country, THA represents more than 85 percent of the state’s acute-care hospitals and health care systems, which employ more than 400,000 health care professionals statewide.
“The Rio Grande Valley was particularly hit hard by COVID-19,” Hawkins noted.
“Local hospitals were flooded with patients amid supply shortages and other unknowns. Fortunately for you all, the vigorous community spirit of the Valley was a force to be reckoned with,” he continued. “Hospitals moved fast to brace for surges. Over the course of the pandemic, Valley hospitals converted units, ORs, clinics, cafeterias and other spaces into COVID-19 units, and added more than 700 new beds to handle surges. Local hospitals became community vaccination centers.”
DHR Health and every major hospital in the Lone Star State were asked to do the impossible, Hawkins said, and those medical systems statewide answered the desperate call.
“Exemplifying the spirit of community, Valley hospitals established a regional collaborative to provide convalescent plasma to area hospitals, share information, discuss best practices, and forecast new challenges and how to best prepare,” Hawkins said. “Over the course of time, the region would mourn more than 6,000 (six thousand) deaths due to COVID-19 – and heroes emerged from all corners of the community.”
A total of 8,447,168 COVID-19 cases had been reported in Texas between March 4, 2020 through Spring 2023. At least one in 307 residents have died from the coronavirus, at total of 94,581 deaths as of March 23, 2023, according to the New York Times.
Rep. Guerra: “There were absolutely no vehicles on the highway. That was really spooky.”
Guerra remembered how dreadful life in deep South Texas felt when COVID-19 literally shut down the way of life in the Rio Grande Valley. “I’d like to tell you about that very solemn moment, thinking about all the lives we lost during that period of time,” said Guerra, who serves as Chairman, House Committee on Resolutions Calendar, Vice-Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation, and Member, House Committee on Energy Resources.
“I remember specifically my wife (Leslie Yoder-Guerra) and I driving to my family ranch in San Manuel, and there were absolutely no vehicles on the highway. That was really spooky.”
Guerra said COVID-19 spared no one from its effects.
“And then to lose so many friends,” Guerra reflected. “State Rep. Sergio Muñoz, Jr. (D-Mission) lost his father during COVID-19, and our hearts go out to him and his family.”
Muñoz, Jr. was a fellow author of House Bill 2166.
His father, Sergio Muñoz, Sr. – himself a state representative who served two two-year terms from 1993 through 1995 in the House of Representatives – passed away at the age of 68 on Thursday, July 30, 2020.
As the primary author of House Bill 2166, Guerra was the legislator who filed the House Bill 2166 and guided it through the legislative process.
“Filed” is used to refer to a measure that has been introduced into the legislative process and given a number.
A bill is the primary means used to create and change the laws of the state.
A bill is a type of legislative measure that requires passage by both the House of Representatives and Senate of the Texas Legislature and action by the governor in order to become effective.
As the sponsor of House Bill 2166, LaMantia guided the bill through the legislative process after Guerra had passed the originating chamber. The sponsor is a member of the opposite chamber of the one in which the bill was filed.
Sen. LaMantia: “Essential workers from every sector showed great bravery and resilience…”
LaMantia shared similar sentiments with Guerra regarding how deadly serious COVID-19 was in the Rio Grande Valley.
“The past few years have been extraordinarily challenging, humbling and overwhelming for each of us. Here in South Texas we faced difficulties, especially through limited resources and strained hospital capacities,” LaMantia recalled. “Despite all the challenges, we were fortunate to have many heroes who persisted and stood strong. Essential workers from every sector showed great bravery and resilience, adapting quickly to changing circumstances and making the very best of the limited information and resources, going out into the unknown, to make sure we were all safe.”
Guerra called on the public to join with him to regularly express their appreciation for those essential workers – the “COVID-19 Heroes” identified in his measure – throughout the weeks, months and years to come.
“Thank them for all they do, for all they did. I cannot impress upon you how important I think that really is,” Guerra said. “We thank the healthcare workers like doctors, nurses, home care facilities employees. We see you and we thank you. First responders like police, fire, EMT (emergency medical technicians) – we see you and we thank you.”
A more detailed list essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, as identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, follows:
• Hospital workers, pharmacy workers, lab personnel, medical supplies and equipment providers, funeral home workers, long-term care workers, and caregivers;
• Food processing/manufacturing workers, grocery and convenience store employees, farmworkers, food service employees, and warehouse workers;
• Firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, correctional officers, police officers, emergency service operators, security staff for buildings;
• Mass transit workers, trash collectors, postal and shipping employees, truck and bus drivers, warehouse employees, workers in the automotive industry;
• Workers involved in the manufacturing and supply of any essential equipment;
• Energy sector employees; petroleum/natural gas sector employees; electric workers;
• Public works employees, communication workers, plumbers/electricians, road maintenance workers, building maintenance workers;
• Workers involved in maintaining the communications infrastructure; and
• Workers who provide or support any necessary service (i.e., building supply workers, national security workers, financial services, etc.).
Prepared remarks delivered by THA leader Hawkins
Hawkins, the CEO for the Texas Hospital Association, delivered the following prepared remarks during the COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day observance held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on Monday, March 4, 2024:
On behalf of the Texas Hospital Association, I’d like to thank DHR and the local community for hosting us here today. What a warm showing of community leaders – everyone coming together to take a moment to pay tribute to the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those we lost.
COVID-19 left a lasting impact on us all. You fought alongside each other. We faced uncertainty together. We relied on our community’s frontlines – police, fire, grocery, health care – for a sense of security. We relied on our families, our coworkers and our hospitals.
It’s an honor for me to be here representing all Texas hospitals.
Starting today, every March 4 in Texas will be observed as COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day under the new state law developed by Rep. Bobby Guerra and Sen. Morgan LaMantia.
This day is critical because it establishes a clear moment in time to honor and recognize the contributions and sacrifices of Texans who played crucial roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes health care professionals, first responders, essential workers, teachers, elected and public officials, media, local businesses, and countless others who bravely showed up every single day to protect us all.
March 4 also marks a time for us to memorialize the nearly 100,000 people in Texas who have lost their lives to COVID-19 since March 4, 2020 – the date the disease was first diagnosed in Texas. A day we will never forget – a day that sent all sectors of the state’s infrastructure into full-blown response mode.
Paramedics, police, fire departments, frontline workers, local, state and national leadership. The pandemic took us all on a painful and seemingly never-ending journey.
The Rio Grande Valley was particularly hit hard by COVID-19. Local hospitals were flooded with patients amid supply shortages and other unknowns. Fortunately for you all, the vigorous community spirit of the Valley was a force to be reckoned with.
Hospitals moved fast to brace for surges. Over the course of the pandemic, Valley hospitals converted units, ORs, clinics, cafeterias and other spaces into COVID-19 units, and added more than 700 new beds to handle surges. Local hospitals became community vaccination centers.
DHR Health alone was the Rio Grande Valley’s single largest vaccination hub, providing more than 300,000 vaccinations through the pandemic.
Exemplifying the spirit of community, Valley hospitals established a regional collaborative to provide convalescent plasma to area hospitals, share information, discuss best practices, and forecast new challenges and how to best prepare.
Over the course of time, the region would mourn more than 6,000 (six thousand) deaths due to COVID-19 – and heroes emerged from all corners of the community.
Texas hospitals played a critical role in the vaccine rollout as well, administering more than 7.5 million (seven million five hundred thousand) COVID-19 cachingdoses to our communities.
Despite these metrics, it’s hard to recall the details of the early days.
The intense uncertainty…the rapid-fire disease spread…school closures…making guidance…travel bans…hand sanitizer rationing…ventilator shortages. The country embarked on what we thought might be a few weeks of turbulence and closures. The reality? COVID wore on…and it will never be forgotten.
Today, things are better. I know we are all grateful to be able to focus on progress, as we hold a special place inside for our COVID memories. The single biggest lesson learned is that hospitals – and hospital workers – were foundational to the country’s overall public health response.
In addition to admitted patients, millions more were tested, treated, or vaccinated for COVID-19 in hospital outpatient and emergency settings. When COVID-19 hospitalizations surged, and capacity was bursting at the seams, time and time again, hospitals were there – for trauma patients, baby deliveries, accident victims – without missing a beat.Working alongside other first responders and community leaders, hospital employees showed up day after day. They showed up even when personal protective equipment was scarce and the lives were on the line. When Texas leadership announced that every Texan who needed a hospital bed during the pandemic would have one, hospitals were already there, having locked arms with public health officials to prevent illness and be ready.
While totally preventing community spread of COVID-19 was not realistic, hospitals embarked on an unprecedented venture alongside public health leaders to protect as many people as possible – rolling out massive vaccines campaigns, pumping out precaution messages, adjusting service lines to bend to new demands, launching programs to retain and find workers, administering new therapies and keeping the lights on during a total time of darkness.
COVID serves as a constant reminder of what’s required to combat any pandemic or public health crisis we may encounter in the future, the toll those events take on us, and how communities come together during the worst of times.
From frontline heroes to everyday families, we all fought and endured a public health crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes. It’s incumbent upon us to never forget this heroism – and what was put on the line – to protect and save Texans.
I cannot say enough about the bravery of each and every one of you, our Heroes who kept our society running amid confusion, uncertainly, risk, and danger. Your bravery and dedication ensured that we made it through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic intact.
COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day ensures that we honor and recognize the heroism and sacrifice from that time, and that we move forward together with greater partnership and community spirit to ensure the health of the Rio Grande Valley and all of Texas.
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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).
