A Valley Health Tax District?

This edition featured Texas State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa [http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist20/dist20.htm] joining Rio Grande Regional's Chief Executive Officer, Bill Burns, to tell Ron just what the lack of CHIP funds for the Valley's children is resulting in for hospitals.  A possible solution to compensating for the fall-out from State funding cuts was postulated by Senator Hinojosa, that being the creation of a separate taxing entity specifically for the health care industry, commonly referred to as a "Health Tax District."  Seantor Hinojosa says that he is researching the possiblility of filing a bill to that effect if it seems viable.

Also covered on this edition of "Valley NewsLine" were Senator Hinojosa's response to figures of double the state average of Texas workman's compensation funds being used here in the Valley, coverage of the Valley's new neo-natal transport unit (an ambulance for new-born infants which is the first of its kind in the Valley), and a tour through the new $68 million expansion of Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen which combines state-of-the-art architecture with state-of-the-art technologies and medical care!

See our "Past Shows" section for more show descriptions and links to CHIP coverage, especially our previous edition to this one for December 12, 2004, entitled "Desperate for CHIP."