MCALLEN, Texas - Eric Hamon, president & CEO of Driscoll Health System, says Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley will open within the next couple of months.
Hamon and Matt Wolthoff, president of Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, spoke about their system’s plans for the region at a recent “Rio Grande Valley Legislators Appreciation Reception hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership.
In his remarks, Hamon said he wanted to tell a quick story about the founding of Driscoll Children’s Hospital.
“In 1903, our founder, Clara Driscoll bought the Alamo. The reason why she bought the Alamo was because the Alamo was going to be tore down. And so she bought it. The next year, Bexar County in San Antonio wanted the Alamo back so she sold the Alamo back for $10,000 less than she purchased it for a year before,” Hamon said.
“She set those dollars aside and designated those dollars for child’s healthcare. In 1945, she passed away and in her will she had a designation that she wanted all children of South Texas to have access to quality health care, regardless of their ability to pay.
“So, since 1945, from Port Lavaca, Texas, to Eagle Pass, Texas, south, including Laredo McAllen, Brownsville, Driscoll has been serving South Texas for north of 70 years. And that was her vision.”
Hamon said he wanted to thank the Valley’s legislative delegation for helping “facilitate” the building of a new standalone children's hospital in Edinburg. To applause from the audience, Hamon said Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley would be opened “in the next couple of months.”
Hamon continued: “I'm here to tell you your elected state reps and senators are the facilitators that made that happen. So when you're around them, thank them for carrying out Clara’s vision. It is absolutely the right thing to do for the children.”
Hamon then introduced Wolthoff.
“He's going to be the president for this children's hospital and he can give you an update on kind of where we are and what we're going to do with the hospital as well as introduce some legislative team members,” Hamon said.
“So thank you for everything you do for the community. The legislators have embraced us and so from the bottom of my heart, we appreciate you. We're going to be here for the next 100 years, taking care of these kids. Thank you.”
Wolthoff said he was excited to talk about the future of children's healthcare in the Valley.
“Eric talked about access to care. And that's what it's about. We recognize… Driscoll has been serving the Valley for decades through outreach and clinics. We recognize the burden that it creates on (Valley) families to have to travel north to Corpus Christi for pediatric specialty care,” Wolthoff said.
“And that's what this is all about, it is about is bringing that care here. And we will continue to build depth in pediatric sub-specialists here in the Valley.”
Wolthoff said the new hospital is really just the “tip of the iceberg.”
He explained: “We are recruiting every day for pediatric specialists and we're getting a lot of traction and bringing depth to specialties that we've just not had in the past,” Wolthoff said,
“So again, (we are) really excited about the future. I am honored to be part of the legacy that is Clara Driscoll and Driscoll Health System. And I just want to thank all of you in the room for your support and particularly the Valley delegation and the legislators in Austin. We could not do what we do without your support.”
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