AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has registered his support for DHR Health’s application to expand services.
The senior U.S. senator for Texas sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), saying DHR offers high quality healthcare.
In order to build and operate a general hospital in Brownsville, DHR Health had to seek an exception to a federal prohibition against expansion of the facility capacity of a physician-owned hospital. DHR Health is a physician-owned hospital based in Edinburg, Texas.
DHR Health is slated to officially open a 59-bed general hospital in Brownsville, Texas, in the coming weeks.
According to information sent to the Texas Health & Human Services Commission, DHR says the Brownsville general hospital will have 39 medical/surgical inpatient beds at single occupancy and 59 at double occupancy, along with “clinical laboratory services, diagnostic x-ray services, treatment facility, including surgery, a 24/7 basic emergency department, intensive care unit with three beds, and seven nursing stains with around-the-clock nursing care.”
As it considered DHR’s application, CMS invited public comment. Some of the correspondence CMS received was in favor of DHR’s expansion. Some was against. Here, below, is the letter Senator Cornyn (pictured above) sent to CMS in support of DHR Health.
Letter
March 9, 2022
The Honorable Chiquita Brooks-LaSure
Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services
200 IndependenceAve. SW
Washington, DC 20201
Dear Ms. Brooks-LaSure:
I am writing to express my support for the D R Health’s application to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an exception to the prohibition on expansion of facility capacity. As you and your staff review the proposal, I trust you will give full consideration to the many strengths of their application.
DHR Health is a community focused physician-owned health system located in and serving the Rio Grande Valley. DHR has served the community over twenty-five years as a safety-net hospital, teaching hospital, research institution, and a community partner. They have the resources to serve the greater Rio Grande Valley and continue to provide access to healthcare to the rural community. However, The Social Security Act prohibits a physician-owned hospital from expanding its facility capacity unless the Secretary of the Department ofHealth and Human Services grants the hospital’s request for an exception.
I would appreciate your efforts to ensure that I am kept informed of the progress of this application. Please contact Bryson Albert ([email protected]), my Grants Coordinator, with any developments regarding this application soon as they are available.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
John Cornyn
United States Senator
Editor’s Note: The above news story is one in a series of stories about DHR Health’s expansion into Brownsville. Thus far, seven stories have been published. Click here to read the first. Click here to read the second. Click here to read the third. Click here to read the fourth. Click here to read the fifth. Click here to read the sixth.
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