On Friday, the Texas Tribune and local health care leaders came to the TJC central campus to discuss opportunities, innovation and rethinking the approach to rural health care.
Panelists included Kirk Calhoun, MD, president of The University of Texas at Tyler and board chair of UT Health East Texas; Kristina Childress, senior public health official and administrator of Angelina County and Cities Health District; and Doug Curran, MD, chief medical officer, East Texas Community Clinic.
The moderator was Jess Huff, the Texas Tribune’s East Texas reporter based in Lufkin.
TJC President and CEO Dr. Juan E. Mejia welcomed the crowd with opening remarks.
“It is an honor to host the Texas Tribune, stellar panelists and leaders from throughout our communities, who represent their respective organizations as subject matter experts on the important topic of health care,” he said. “Today is where care intersects with strategy, and we are fortunate that you are here so that we can continue to do better and lead the way in how we care for others.”
UT Tyler President Dr. Kirk Calhoun (second from left) speaks during Friday’s Texas Tribune discussion on rural health care challenges. Also pictured (from left): Jess Huff, Texas Tribune East Texas reporter and moderator; Calhoun; Kristina Childress, senior public health official and administrator of Angelina County and Cities Health District; and Doug Curran, MD, chief medical officer, East Texas Community Clinic.
Calhoun highlighted the collaborative relationship between UT Tyler and TJC and how the institutions work together to the benefit of the local health care community.
“Of course, to be at TJC today, both institutions have significant resources invested in the training health care professionals,” Calhoun said. “We actually partner in doing that, we do it well together and we support one another in producing the health care professionals that this region of the state needs.”
During a discussion on the nursing shortage, Calhoun said, “What I think we’ve realized — and we have one of the largest nursing schools in the state and TJC has a very aggressive and well put-together nursing program also — is that opportunities for nurses has exploded. There are so many realms they can pursue.”
He continued, “As we try to make sure we adequately staff our hospitals, our clinics and our physicians’ offices, there are insurance companies hiring them as well as public health districts, so we really have to gear up and produce more nurses. Our medical school producing doctors is not going to solve the problem alone. We are going to have to rely on nurse practitioners and other alternative caregivers and new aspects of technology to reach these communities.”
From left: Kevin Fowler, TJC executive director for regional community development; Jess Huff, Texas Tribune East Texas reporter and event moderator; Kim Lessner, TJC vice president for operations/chief operations officer; Kirk Calhoun, MD, UT Tyler president; Kristina Childress, senior public health official and administrator of Angelina County and Cities Health District; Doug Curran, MD, chief medical officer, East Texas Community Clinic; Dr. Deana Sheppard, TJC provost and vice president of academic and student affairs/chief academic officer; Sarah Van Cleef, TJC vice president for financial and administrative affairs/chief financial officer; and Dr. Juan E. Mejia, TJC president and CEO.
Dr. Doug Curran also said that finding and keeping medical professionals in rural communities largely depended on whether they came from rural communities themselves.
“There are some distinct features of those individuals, and a lot of it has to do with how they were raised,” Curran said. “I grew up in a small town in northwest Arkansas. So, I lived in a small town and when I moved to Athens, I and two other docs started a family medicine group there that now has about 19 docs, nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants.”
He added that medical professionals who train near rural areas tend to stay and work within 200 miles of where they received their medical training.
Calhoun added, “As we work to identify solutions, I think it’s important that we always remain flexible in how those solutions might be applied, given the geographic and cultural differences that exist in a wonderful state like Texas.”
Area media members capture Friday's Texas Tribune event on rural health care, held on the TJC central campus.
Following the event, Mejia said, “It was our sincere privilege to host this important discussion on one of the most vital of topics facing our community. Along with our College’s executive cabinet, who were all present during the event, TJC reiterates its commitment to academic and workforce programs that can strengthen this important sector that promotes economic development, regional prosperity, and most importantly, a community that cares and acts on behalf of those who we care about because it’s who we are as humans. It brings us back to humanity.”