[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Local News
Archives
| Arts & Entertainment
| Audio/Video
| Business
| Classifieds
| Columns
| Food
| Forums
| Health & Fitness
| News
| Obits
| Opinions
| People
| Politics
| Science/Technology
| Search
| Sports
| Subscribe
| Travel
| Weather
Friday, January 19, 2001
Local leaders make call for thinking regionally
South Texans say area should pool resources together in order to solve the area's problems
By Cynthia Hodnett
Caller-Times
South Texas must learn to think as a region, pooling all of its resources to provide adequate health care, educational opportunities and economic prosperity, local business, education and government leaders agreed Thursday.
"The goal is to get people in our little towns and in our big cities to start seeing some of the issues on a regional level rather than a local level," said Steve Smith, associate vice president for academic affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
"Issues like the lack of health care and education are related in so many ways," Smith said. "They affect society as a whole so it's important that we begin to pull all of our resources together so we can address and solve some of these problems."
Smith was one of more than 25 participants in the Regional Community Leaders Forum at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Thursday.
The leaders, who represented business, government, education, religion and military sectors in Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio counties, discussed ideas that will improve the quality of life in South Texas.
The forum has been coordinated by A&M officials from both Kingsville and Corpus Christi and has been sponsored by the Coastal Bend Council of Governments, Lucien Flournoy, H. E. Butt Grocery Co., the King Ranch, Christus Spohn Health System, the Port of Corpus Christi and AEP-Central Light Power and Light.
Since last fall, the group has met once a month to discuss changing demographics in South Texas.
"As a university, we wanted to be the catalyst for this discussion," Smith said. "Since we began meeting a year ago, we have had some good discussions and are starting to develop some plans of action.
"Every month we are going have a different theme for discussion," he said.
Similar forums are being held at A&M universities around the state, including College Station and Prairie View, said Daniel R. Hernandez, associate vice chancellor for community development for the Texas A&M University System.
"Our intent was to get these leaders to meet once a month with the intent of getting them to bond, to know each other by what's important to them and what are some of the visions they have for the future," Hernandez said.
"One of the themes that we are trying to follow is that people do business with people they trust," he said.
"One of the real underlying goals is to develop a sense of trust among the leaders so we can began to address issues."
Forum leaders spent Thursday afternoon talking about children and health care.
"Health care issues are not just for people who are interested in health but also for the school districts, people in business, law enforcement," Hernandez said. "Health related issues are related to the environment that we are living in. If children don't have adequate health care, then it may affect how they will do in school and whether or not they continue."
Many pointed to the fact that the state had the highest percentage of uninsured in the nation.
In 1999, 23 percent of Texans were uninsured and nearly a million and a half were children, according to the Census Bureau's annual report on health insurance coverage in America.
"The rural health care issue is critical in this area because there are people who don't have access to adequate health care," said Patty Mueller, a trustee for Christus Spohn Health System.
"We have so many people who are underinsured," she said. "That's why we need the Coastal Bend Health Education Center, which will provide outreach services to the community."
Staff writer Cynthia Hodnett can be reached at 886-4334 or by e-mail at hodnettc@caller.com
| Talk
about this story | Next Story
| Home |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
