By Lewis of Orange H.C.R. No. 202 77R8703 MKS-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Doctors Hospital of Groves is a stand-alone facility 1-2 operated by Community Health Care Foundation, Inc., a tax-exempt 1-3 organization with no other affiliation or access to corporate 1-4 funding, but which is dedicated to providing quality health care 1-5 and improving access to and availability of physicians, ambulatory 1-6 services, emergency care, and hospital inpatient and outpatient 1-7 health care; and 1-8 WHEREAS, The hospital not only serves residents of the city 1-9 of Groves but also treats persons from all over Southeast Texas who 1-10 are in need of medical care, including the uninsured and 1-11 underinsured, providing charity care for indigent persons in the 1-12 community and uncompensated care for persons unable or unwilling to 1-13 pay for services as well as health care services for persons 1-14 receiving assistance in the form of Medicaid, Medicare, or the 1-15 Children's Health Insurance Program; and 1-16 WHEREAS, It is estimated that in the year 2000 Doctors 1-17 Hospital provided $2.2 million in state-defined charity care and 1-18 $2.3 million in uncompensated care; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Although Doctors Hospital of Groves is currently 1-20 designated an urban hospital, it serves a small community whose 1-21 population mirrors the population served by many rural hospitals 1-22 that receive a higher reimbursement and more favorable treatment 1-23 under certain federal programs for the same services; and 1-24 WHEREAS, Doctors Hospital is the only osteopathic facility in 2-1 the area between Dallas and Houston, and as the only independent 2-2 teaching hospital it provides its 12 family practice residents with 2-3 an opportunity to treat a medically needy population; furthermore, 2-4 the hospital's active commitment to providing access and 2-5 availability to physicians and health care services is evident by 2-6 its efforts in recruiting new physicians to the community, 2-7 including the most recent additions of a general surgeon, an 2-8 orthopedic surgeon, and an anesthesiologist; and 2-9 WHEREAS, The State of Texas recognizes the importance of 2-10 providing health care to underserved areas of the state and its 2-11 uninsured and underinsured residents, and Doctors Hospital is 2-12 uniquely positioned to reach a large uninsured and underinsured 2-13 population; redesignating the hospital as a rural hospital possibly 2-14 would allow the hospital to receive better rates of reimbursement 2-15 for services and to reap other benefits that would ensure its 2-16 continued delivery of health care services; and 2-17 WHEREAS, Doctors Hospital of Groves has been dedicated to 2-18 providing health care to uninsured and underinsured Texans that 2-19 might otherwise be forced to go without medical care, and because 2-20 the hospital is continually teaching and recruiting physicians to 2-21 serve the medically needy residents of Texas, it is important that 2-22 the hospital be given every opportunity to safeguard its ability to 2-23 provide health care to the city of Groves and the Southeast Texas 2-24 community; now, therefore, be it 2-25 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-26 hereby direct the Health and Human Services Commission to 2-27 redesignate the Doctors Hospital of Groves from an urban hospital 3-1 to a rural hospital; and, be it further 3-2 RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 3-3 copy of this resolution to the commissioner of health and human 3-4 services.