Thank you everybody for showing up. Thank you Tom. I’m here on behalf of Pharr EDC. They gave me talking points, which is always appropriate. But, as Ambrosio knows, I hardly ever use the talking points.
But, just to make sure I want to thank everybody who’s involved in this wonderful project for the city and I want to thank UHS, of which I have been a member of since 1986. I am also a member of the EDC and have been on the City Commission for about eight years.
Interesting enough, eight years ago, Ambrosio and I met together on this particular journey of our lives and one of the things that we talked about was, what was important to us as individuals, as doctors, going into this venture of community service. We made a list of things that were important for us, you know, culture change, education, safety, and of course, being doctors, one of the things that was important to us was health care.
And it’s been an incredible accomplishment. Nothing is easy. We learned a lot of patience. We learned a lot the hard way with the things that we accomplished. But, at the forefront it was our intent to make Pharr better. And as far as our health care accomplishments go, I think we’ve done a tremendous job. And, again, the city has grown. The 911 centers, our fire department, our EMS, our education through nursing care, the internships that we have.
One of the things that we lack… and of course, we have a lot of really good local doctors in the area. But, one of the things that we lacked was an infrastructure facility in the city of Pharr for the safety and health care of our citizens. And for that purpose, I’m extremely happy and very proud of the fact that we have a partnership with UHS. I know you guys have a track record of providing health care, wonderful health care for the Valley, for the region. We take patients all the way from Rio Grande City to Brownsville. So, UHS impacts the whole Valley and for us, the City of Pharr, to be part of that, to be part of that community is really, really important.
It’s very personal for me. It is very personal for Ambrosio. The fact that we were here today… we’re looking forward to the end of the year when we can actually have the ribbon cutting and (being able) to advance the health care that not only the city of Pharr needs, but Hidalgo County and South Texas.
So thank you everybody who made this possible. Thank you everybody for showing up. I’d like to thank the (EDC) board, the administration, our commissioners, our administration at the City of Pharr, Victor, I know I’m speaking on your behalf because usually you’re the one that’s here. and your staff, thank for all the business you bring, the things that you do for the city of Pharr and God bless you all. God bless the City of Pharr. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: The above remarks were made by Dr. Ramiro Caballero, MD, a Pharr city commissioner and member of the board of directors of Pharr Economic Development Corporation, at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new freestanding emergency department being built in Pharr by South Texas Health System.
Editor’s Note: The “Tom” Dr. Caballero mentioned in his remarks is Tom Castañeda, director of marketing and public relations for South Texas Health System. The “UHS” Dr. Caballero mentioned in his remarks is Universal Health Services, the parent company of South Texas Health System.
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