On behalf of DHR Health, our physicians, our nurses, our team and more than one million residents of Rio Grande Valley, we are privileged to serve.
And thank you all for being here with us today.
This is an extraordinary moment. What we break ground on today is not simply a building, it's a foundation of the future of medicine in South Texas. First and foremost, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick and to the State of Texas for the state funding that made this project possible. It reflects a belief, a belief that the people of Rio Grande Valley deserve the same caliber of research, the same caliber of medical education and the same caliber of care as any community in this nation.
Lieutenant Governor Patrick, your leadership in securing this investment is an act of faith in our region, and we will honor that faith with every discovery, every breakthrough, every life changed by the work that will happen inside these walls.
I want to thank our partners at University of Houston. The funding of this facility was channeled through our affiliation with University of Houston, and that partnership has been genuinely transformational for DHR Health. To the chancellor, to the dean of the College of Medicine and the entire University of Houston system, thank you. Thank you for believing that a great university and a great health system working side by side can change the trajectory of an entire region. So, thank you.
Now I want to speak directly to the question that matters most today. Why is DHR Health doing this? Why here? Why now? The answer is simple, that is our mission. From the day DHR Health was founded, our vision has been to deliver world class health care to the people of Rio Grande Valley. Not world class for our size, not world class for a zip code, world class, period. And to deliver world class care, you need two things. You need the best people, and you have to give them the best tools.
The best physicians, the best researchers, the best scientists in the country, they do not come to a place simply to practice what is already known. They come to a place where they can discover what is not yet known. They come for the laboratories. They come for the clinical trials. They come for the research programs, the academic infrastructure that lets them push this medicine forward.
This building is that infrastructure. This building is the answer to every physician scientist who has ever asked us, where will I do my research? This building is the answer to every patient who has ever asked, can I get the clinical trial close to home? Let me be very direct about something. What distinguishes M.D. Anderson from every other cancer hospitals in America? Research. What distinguishes Cleveland Clinic from every other cardiovascular program in the world? Research. It's not a luxury. It's not location. It's not the size. It is the relentless pursuit of advanced research that turns a hospital into destination, a destination into a name that patient trusts with their lives.
Today, we are laying the cornerstone of advanced research in the Rio Grande Valley. For the first time in a region's history, we are building the kind of academic and research engine that, until now, has only existed in Houston, Dallas, New York, Cleveland and Boston. It is time. It is long past time, and it is happening right here. This facility will do something we have been working towards for years. It will help us recruit and retain the very best talent from around the country. When they stay, our patients win. When our patients win, our community wins.
So, today, as we turn this soil, we are not just beginning construction, we are making a declaration that the Rio Grande Valley will no longer be a place that sends its brightest minds and sickest patients somewhere else. We will build it here. We will discover here, and we will deliver right here. To Lieutenant Governor Patrick, to the State of Texas, to the University of Houston, to our board, our physicians, our team, and, more importantly, the future of the community, the kids, thank you.
Let's get to work.
Editor's Note: The above guest column is based on remarks made by Dr. Manish Singh, MD, CEO of DHR Health at a grounbreaking ceremony for DHR Health and the University of Houston's new Medical Research and Education Center. The center is being built on the DHR medical campus in north McAllen.
