1-1                                    1

 1-2                              SENATE RESOLUTION

 1-3           WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is especially proud

 1-4     to honor Dr. James W. Simpson for his significant contributions

 1-5     to Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi; and

 1-6           WHEREAS, Dr. Simpson is being recognized with an appreciation

 1-7     dinner at Kings Crossing Country Club in Corpus Christi on

 1-8     February 13, 1997, in celebration of the new cardiac catheterization

 1-9     laboratory that will be named in his honor; and

1-10           WHEREAS, The new $2.5 million, state-of-the-art pediatric

1-11     catheterization lab will benefit the children of South Texas with

1-12     the latest technology for the diagnosis and treatment of congenital

1-13     heart disease and cardiac abnormalities in children; and

1-14           WHEREAS, A pediatric cardiologist and Chief of Cardiology at

1-15     Driscoll Children's Hospital, Dr. Simpson maintains a prosperous

1-16     private practice while providing free care to needy children

1-17     around the state, traveling as much as 80,000 miles a year to

1-18     make his visits; and

1-19           WHEREAS, He shares his expertise with residents of the

1-20     rural areas of South Texas, where residents often cannot afford

1-21     specialists; at least four mornings a week the doctor tours his

1-22     clinics and returns in the evening to see private-practice patients;

1-23     his two associates and staff are trained to perform many of the

 2-1     duties the doctor ordinarily would have to take the time to do

 2-2     himself; and

 2-3           WHEREAS, His clinics and home office are efficient, professional

 2-4     operations whose large patient load is made possible by an increased

 2-5     reliance on the skills of the highly trained staff; by the time a

 2-6     doctor sees a patient, most of the preliminary work is done; and

 2-7           WHEREAS, The good doctor began his unique practice in 1968

 2-8     when he had just finished cardiology training at Baylor College of

 2-9     Medicine and joined the staff of the Driscoll Foundation Children's

2-10     Hospital; to develop a lucrative private practice in his speciality,

2-11     Dr. Simpson needed to extend his practice to an area of two million

2-12     people, which required him to reach many of the towns in South Texas;

2-13     and

2-14           WHEREAS, The young doctor worked with the public health

2-15     departments to establish free pediatric cardiology clinics and

2-16     volunteered his time and travel expenses to serve the clinics; and

2-17           WHEREAS, The only fees collected were from the patients who

2-18     came to his office, but Driscoll Hospital guaranteed him a minimum

2-19     income, and the state public health department began paying for

2-20     some of the indigent care in 1970; as his practice expanded,

2-21     Dr. Simpson added two associates to staff the home office and

2-22     together the doctors see about 14,000 patients a year; and

2-23           WHEREAS, The doctor has trained pediatric nurse practitioners

2-24     to run the clinics; each clinic is staffed by a full-time nurse

2-25     practitioner and a clerk; Dr. Simpson established the Children's

 3-1     Heart Institute of Texas, a nonprofit foundation, to sponsor the

 3-2     clinics and pay the clinic personnel and other expenses; the

 3-3     institute receives public funds and grants from the United States

 3-4     and Texas departments of health; and

 3-5           WHEREAS, Today, his practice provides services to children

 3-6     through 22 clinics located throughout the region, and he maintains

 3-7     hospital privileges in 22 hospitals in that area; and

 3-8           WHEREAS, The residents of South Texas have benefitted

 3-9     immeasurably from the care and concern of this compassionate

3-10     physician whose great rewards are the gratitude of his patients;

3-11     now, therefore, be it

3-12           RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,

3-13     75th Legislature, hereby commend Dr. James W. Simpson for

3-14     his magnificent work in caring for his patients throughout

3-15     his medical career; and, be it further

3-16           RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for

3-17     this distinguished doctor as an expression of the appreciation and

3-18     high regard of the Texas Senate.

3-19                                                    Truan

3-20           Armbrister           Galloway            Ogden

3-21           Barrientos           Harris              Patterson

3-22           Bivins               Haywood             Ratliff

3-23           Brown                Lindsay             Shapiro

3-24           Cain                 Lucio               Shapleigh

3-25           Carona               Luna                Sibley

3-26           Duncan               Madla               Wentworth

3-27           Ellis                Moncrief            West

3-28           Fraser               Nelson              Whitmire

3-29           Gallegos             Nixon               Zaffirini

3-30                      Bullock, President of the Senate

3-31                               ______________________________________

3-32                                       President of the Senate

 4-1                                    I hereby certify that the above

 4-2                               Resolution was adopted by the Senate

 4-3                               on February 13, 1997.

 4-4                               ______________________________________

 4-5                                       Secretary of the Senate

 4-6                               ______________________________________

 4-7                                         Dean of the Senate