By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, health care experts moved quickly to reinforce ways to mitigate disease spread. Good hygiene, social distancing, face coverings, and staying home are important precautions to minimize risk COVID-19. They also are important safeguards to help fight seasonal influenza. Fighting the flu will be paramount this upcoming flu season, as COVID-19 continues to sicken our communities and tax health care systems and infrastructures....

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association Hospitals and health care workers prepared for the spread of COVID-19 early on. They consulted and implemented expert infection control procedures. They found ways to safely reuse personal protective equipment when masks where in short supply. They have adjusted patient areas to separate potentially infectious individuals from the general population. Direct care staff have taken the appropriate precautions to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19 so they can continue...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   Hospitals consistently are confronted with new situations, emergencies and events—often unique and unlike those they have encountered before. In 2014, a Dallas hospital treated the country’s first case of Ebola. During Hurricane Harvey, hospitals statewide rushed to respond to and heal those impacted by the state’s most damaging and expensive hurricane to date. Months later, the Texas First Baptist Church shooting would kick off a string of...

By Ted Shaw, THA president/CEO   Public health emergencies and disasters often are defined by their impact on human health. When Hurricane Harvey dumped 50 inches of rain in the Houston area and forged a path of destruction across the Texas Gulf Coast in 2017, 20 hospitals were forced to close or evacuate. More than 5,300 Texans were cared for during both the rescue and recovery efforts. The storm displaced hundreds of thousands of Texans...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association The word hero means something different for everyone. Some may think of fictional characters like Superman. Other, real life heroes may come to mind, such as military personnel and professional athletes. Today, when people think of heroes, they should think of the nearly 400,000 Texans who are on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Our brave health care workers do not wear capes, they wear scrubs and...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association Texas hospitals share a mission to protect the health of Texas. When challenges arise, health care providers and public health officials must be strong partners and work together. COVID-19 is a significant challenge for Texas, and we must remain diligent, informed and collaborative.   Health officials agree that more cases are expected to be confirmed in the United States. While it’s impossible to predict exactly how the disease...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association If there was ever a critical time to put a stake in the ground for Texas health care, it’s now. It’s a new year. There are major elections around the corner that will have a significant impact on health care. Plus, it’s a Census year, with the federal government launching its once-a-decade official calculation of the country’s population and demographics. Health care is one of the most important...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   With the start of a new year and a new decade, we reflect on our past achievements and challenges, and look forward to the promise of a new year. It’s an opportunity for a new beginning and a more refined focus. We take stock and plan new courses of action to better our lives, with resolutions to eat better, exercise more, and reduce stress. Texas hospitals, too,...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association   In a world of rapid change, the foundational stability of a business is critical to its survival. A solid financial foundation to support organizational agility and resilience is critical when serious matters such as health — and life — are involved. What if you could not rely on the stability of your local ambulance or fire service?   By the same token, instability tends to have a...

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association From October 2018 to September 2019, a coalition of health care providers in southeast Texas surpassed its goal of reducing patients’ glycated hemoglobin levels, an important marker of how well a person is managing their diabetes. With funding from the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program through Texas’ Medicaid 1115 Waiver, local hospital emergency departments, community paramedics, the local health department, a federally qualified health center and social...