TORCH Hospitals:

TORCH is bestowing specials awards on four state lawmakers for helping us in the last session. Senators Robert Duncan of Lubbock and Kel Seliger of Amarillo, as well as State Representatives Joe Heflin of Crosbyton and Garnet Coleman of Houston will be the recipients of the Texas Rural Health TORCHbearer Award for their support of rural hospitals and their efforts to enhance rural health care access.

The first award ceremony will be conducted at 11 am this morning at Covenant Hospital Plainview for Representative Heflin. He was a strong supporter of rural hospitals and worked hard on HB 1924, which was to protect rural hospitals from stricter pharmacy rules. He also worked for physician employment issue and in other areas to help Texas rural hospitals..

Here is an excerpt from the press release that has been sent out:

Texas State Representative Joe Heflin of Crosbyton was presented today with the Texas Rural Health TORCHbearer Award by the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals. Representative Heflin was recognized for his efforts in the 81st session of the Texas Legislature in support of rural hospitals and working to improve access to health care for rural Texans. The award ceremony was held at Covenant Hospital in Plainview, one of the rural hospitals in the House District #85 which is represented by Heflin.

The Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals, also known as TORCH, represents more than 150 rural hospitals, including those in Heflin’s district. According to TORCH President and CEO David Pearson, “Representative Heflin is one of a few state lawmakers that went well beyond the call of duty to help rural hospitals and pressed for enhanced health care in rural areas.” Heflin is credited with working in several areas including pushing for programs to bring more doctors to rural Texas and trying to shelter rural hospitals from regulations that could add unnecessary costs for patients and local taxpayers.

Pearson added “Joe Heflin is someone who fully understands the importance of protecting our limited resources. He knows that when rural hospitals struggle, the community soon starts to feel the effects. Joe truly gets it and he makes it a personal priority to fight for rural hospitals.” TORCH bestows this special award on only a small group of deserving individuals who have sincerely demonstrated their commitment to improving rural health care.

Many rural hospitals in Texas struggle with limited resources and low patient volumes, but without them thousands of rural Texans would not have accessible health care. Don McBeath, Director of Advocacy for TORCH, said “without enthusiastic support from people like Representative Heflin, some of our rural hospitals could not survive. We truly appreciate his efforts and his willingness to fight for our rural citizens to have access to care.”

Heflin has one of the most rural districts in the Texas Legislature with 16 rural counties covering more than 15,000 square miles and spanning 243 miles north to south and 183 miles east to west. It spreads from Plainview in the panhandle, to west of San Angelo, to north of Abilene. The 85th House district has 12 hospitals, 8 of which have 25 or less beds.

Senators Duncan and Seliger, as well as Rep. Coleman will receive their awards on later dates based on scheduling.