Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tours $100 million Rio Grande Valley hospital: ‘An answer to prayer’
20 Abril 2024 - 11:16AM
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited South Texas on Saturday to tour
Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley.
The new eight-story, $100 million hospital in Edinburg will open
May 1 and become the first designated freestanding children’s
hospital in the Valley, a medically underserved area facing a
shortage of pediatricians.
At a press conference with Driscoll leadership, physicians and
staff, the lieutenant governor spoke about his fondness for the
Valley and about the importance of opening a new children’s
hospital in Edinburg.
“This is going to be an answer to prayer. You don’t have to go
to Corpus and stay overnight,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said, referring
to the long drive patients in the Valley had to make to receive
care at Driscoll Children's Hospital Corpus Christi, the nearest
specialty acute care hospital for kids.
“Now you have a place in the valley that they can go to. And
their families can have hope and they have the care that they need.
It’s really significant,” Patrick said.
Citing the fact that the new hospital would become the 33rd
freestanding children’s hospital in the entire U.S. and the fifth
in Texas, the lieutenant governor said people would look back 30
years from now and recognize the opening of the hospital as
historic.
The new hospital will open with 119 pediatric beds and 700
employees. It will generate $124.7 million per year in economic
growth to Texas, according to a Perryman Group study.
“The opening of this hospital will be instrumental in improving
access to pediatric specialty care for families in the Rio Grande
Valley. Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, and
the many pediatric subspecialists that will work in it, represent
an entirely new level of services previously unavailable close to
home,” said Matt Wolthoff, president of Driscoll Children's
Hospital Rio Grande Valley.
“Driscoll is proud show the Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick our new,
life-changing children’s hospital. Our vision to never turn a child
away is growing eight stories taller,” said Driscoll CEO Eric
Hamon.
The press conference on Saturday was also attended by Tialy
Elaine Martinez, a 5-year-old Driscoll patient from the Valley who
was treated for PHACE syndrome, a condition that affects the brain
and heart.
“We had to travel to Driscoll in Corpus, it was a very
challenging moment because we had to leave our families and our
home and stay for more than four months in Corpus,” said Tialy’s
mother, IIiana Martinez.
“Having our very own Driscoll here in the Rio Grande Valley is
just a blessing… we are so glad, we are so happy that we have our
very own Driscoll that we can call home from now on,” Martinez
said.
The new hospital is located at 2820 W. Michelangelo Dr.
###
About Driscoll: Driscoll is the premier healthcare
provider for kids in South Texas. We are a nonprofit healthcare
system that has served communities in the Lone Star State since
1953. Today, Driscoll is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare
system in the region, offering care at Driscoll Children’s Hospital
in Corpus Christi and at specialty centers and clinics across South
Texas. Soon, we’ll open Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande
Valley, the first freestanding designated children’s hospital in
the region. Our non-profit community-based health plan, Driscoll
Health Plan, offers Texas families access to local physicians and
other life-saving benefits.
Fernando Ramirez
Driscoll
(361) 631-2368
Fernando.ramirez@dchstx.org