On Wednesday, I was delighted to visit three exceptional health care facilities that provide quality care for North Texans. I began my morning at the Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute at Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center.  This joint effort of the City of Dallas and Baylor Health Care System provides a new care model for service delivery, education and research to help people with diabetes.  The Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute specializes in diabetes education and care, general health and wellness education, and City of Dallas park and recreation activities.  I am pleased that they have come together to provide prevention education, in addition to health care, which will lead to healthier and happier lives in our community.

In the afternoon, I met with Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Bruce A. Meyer, M.D., M.B.A., Executive Vice President of UT Southwestern Health System Affairs at the Biomedical Research Lab.  Some of our nation’s finest researchers are diligently working in this lab to develop cures for Alzheimer’s, Autism, Cancer and a host of other devastating diseases. The cutting-edge research, patient care and clinical expertise of UT Southwestern will continue to provide the world with better treatment and prevention of diseases and delivery of health care.

Finally, I was able to visit the OB/GYN Department and Emergency Room of Parkland Hospital.  In meeting with the doctors and nurses at Parkland, it was easy to see the incredible task that they face every day.  The managers of Parkland’s OB/GYN and Emergency departments shared with me the numerous steps that they are taking to transform the hospitals operations to improve outcomes for patients and control costs. The unprecedented volume of patients treated at Parkland makes efficient operations vital to quality care.  I am pleased that the managers at Parkland are working so diligently with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as UT Southwestern Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and other health care providers in our community to provide reliable service to anyone in need.

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This year the forum will be held on Saturday, April 21st from 8am – noon at the First Baptist Church, located at 2400 North Josey Lane in Carrollton. This event is free and open to the public. The North Texas U.S. Service Academy Forum will highlight the opportunities available, the nomination process, and evaluation requirements for the nation’s five Service Academies.  For more information, please contact Sandy Pappas in my Dallas District Office at 972.392.0505.