Congressional Leaders to Highlight Border Health Conference

Physicians, Other Leaders to Address Health and Care Access Issues

August 5, 2015 

  • WHAT: Physician leaders from Texas will meet in El Paso with federal legislators and government officials to discuss critical health care needs and challenges facing communities along the U.S.-Mexico border. The 10th Annual Border Health Conference is sponsored by Texas Medical Association’s (TMA’s) Border Health Caucus (BHC). BHC’s mission is to ensure access to care for all patients along the border.
  • WHEN: TOMORROW, Aug. 6, 8:30 am-1 pm (See detailed schedule below.)
  • WHERE: El Paso Natural Gas Conference Center, The University of Texas at El Paso
  • WHY: This will be the 10th year the conference has assembled health care and government experts to find solutions for health care problems facing border patients and their physicians. Other issues this conference will address include:  
    • How best to improve public health;
    • Medical alphabet soup: How the ACA, GME, MCOs, and life after Medicare’s SGR affect Texans’ ability to get a physician’s care; and
    • How together health care, government, and private stakeholders can be stronger for patients and physicians’ delivery of good care.
  • WHO: Top physician, health care, academic, and government leaders from the border region. (See agenda below for panel moderators and speakers.)

Thursday’s conference panels and participants

8:30 am            Opening Remarks

  • U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso)
  • Manuel Acosta, MD, BHC Chair
  • Tom Garcia, MD, TMA President
  • U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio)

9 am                 Panel No 1: Public health: The border is only a line on a map

  • E. Linda Villareal, MD, TMA Board of Trustees (moderator)
  • Healthy Eating, Active Living — Jon Law, President, Paso del Norte Health Foundation
  • Emerging Diseases — Fernando Gonzalez, MD, MPH
  • Health Care Literacy — Michelle Apodaca, Haynes & Boone LLP
  • Building Better Infrastructure — Edward Olivares, Chief Administrative Officer, Hidalgo County Health and Human Services

                                   
10:15 am         Panel No 2: Ensuring access: Overcoming obstacles to care

  • Luis Benavides, MD, BHC Vice Chair (moderator)
  • Graduate Medical Education — Manny De La Rosa, MD, U.S./Mexico Border Health Commission
  • Physicians and New Technology — Carlos Cardenas, MD
  • Coordination of Care/Managed Care Organizations — Gary Jessee, Chief Deputy Director for Medicaid and CHIP, Texas Department of Health and Human Services
  • Affordable Care Act Along the Border — Barbara Jiménez, Director, Central and South Regions County of San Diego-Health and Human Services Agency
  • Preventing Fraud and Abuse — Stuart Bowen Jr., Inspector General for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission
  • Post-Sustainable Growth Rate Formula Landscape — U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Lewisville)

11:30 am          Panel No 3: The power of collaboration

  • Luis Benavides, MD, BHC Vice Chair (moderator)
  • Medical Center of the Americas Foundation — Emma Schwartz
  • Sierra Providence Health Network — Sally Hurt-Deitch
  • University Medical Center of El Paso — James N. Valenti
  • Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare — Jacob Cintron
  • Memorial Medical Center of Las Cruces — Phillip Rivera 
  • Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso – J. Manuel de la Rosa, MD 
  • Universidad Autonóma de Ciudad Juárez, School of Medicine — Beatriz Díaz, MD, PhD
  • Juarez Medical Tourism — Oscar Cantú
  • El Paso County Medical Society — Syed Yusoof, MD, MBA 
  • Emergence Health Network — Kristi Daugherty 
  • William Beaumont Army Medical Center — Col. Michael Amaral  

Please call Brent or Marcus in TMA’s Communications Division to arrange interviews with Texas physicians before or during the conference.

TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 48,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.

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Contact:
Brent Annear (512) 370-1381; cell: (512) 656-7320; email: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org

Marcus Cooper (512) 370-1382; cell: (512) 650-5336 email: marcus.cooper[at]texmed[dot]org
Steve Levine (512) 370-1380; cell: (512) 750-0971; email: steve.levine[at]texmed[dot]org
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Last Updated On

March 14, 2018

Originally Published On

August 04, 2015