1-1     By:  Lewis (Senate Sponsor - Bernsen)                H.C.R. No. 202
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001;
 1-3     May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
 1-4     and Human Services; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                         HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-7           WHEREAS, Doctors Hospital of Groves is a stand-alone facility
 1-8     operated by Community Health Care Foundation, Inc., a tax-exempt
 1-9     organization with no other affiliation or access to corporate
1-10     funding, but which is dedicated to providing quality health care
1-11     and improving access to and availability of physicians, ambulatory
1-12     services, emergency care, and hospital inpatient and outpatient
1-13     health care; and
1-14           WHEREAS, The hospital not only serves residents of the city
1-15     of Groves but also treats persons from all over Southeast Texas who
1-16     are in need of medical care, including the uninsured and
1-17     underinsured, providing charity care for indigent persons in the
1-18     community and uncompensated care for persons unable or unwilling to
1-19     pay for services as well as health care services for persons
1-20     receiving assistance in the form of Medicaid, Medicare, or the
1-21     Children's Health Insurance Program; and
1-22           WHEREAS, It is estimated that in the year 2000 Doctors
1-23     Hospital provided $2.2 million in state-defined charity care and
1-24     $2.3 million in uncompensated care; and
1-25           WHEREAS, Although Doctors Hospital of Groves is currently
1-26     designated an urban hospital, it serves a small community whose
1-27     population mirrors the population served by many rural hospitals
1-28     that receive a higher reimbursement and more favorable treatment
1-29     under certain federal programs for the same services; and
1-30           WHEREAS, Doctors Hospital is the only osteopathic facility in
1-31     the area between Dallas and Houston, and as the only independent
1-32     teaching hospital it provides its 12 family practice residents with
1-33     an opportunity to treat a medically needy population; furthermore,
1-34     the hospital's active commitment to providing access and
1-35     availability to physicians and health care services is evident by
1-36     its efforts in recruiting new physicians to the community,
1-37     including the most recent additions of a general surgeon, an
1-38     orthopedic surgeon, and an anesthesiologist; and
1-39           WHEREAS, The State of Texas recognizes the importance of
1-40     providing health care to underserved areas of the state and its
1-41     uninsured and underinsured residents, and Doctors Hospital is
1-42     uniquely positioned to reach a large uninsured and underinsured
1-43     population; redesignating the hospital as a rural hospital possibly
1-44     would allow the hospital to receive better rates of reimbursement
1-45     for services and to reap other benefits that would ensure its
1-46     continued delivery of health care services; and
1-47           WHEREAS, Doctors Hospital of Groves has been dedicated to
1-48     providing health care to uninsured and underinsured Texans that
1-49     might otherwise be forced to go without medical care, and because
1-50     the hospital is continually teaching and recruiting physicians to
1-51     serve the medically needy residents of Texas, it is important that
1-52     the hospital be given every opportunity to safeguard its ability to
1-53     provide health care to the city of Groves and the Southeast Texas
1-54     community; now, therefore, be it
1-55           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-56     hereby direct the Health and Human Services Commission to
1-57     redesignate the Doctors Hospital of Groves from an urban hospital
1-58     to a rural hospital; and, be it further
1-59           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
1-60     copy of this resolution to the commissioner of health and human
1-61     services.
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