DHR Health

Edinburg, Texas
19665691

COVID-19 has put a detriment to the world. Life has not been the same since the

beginning of the pandemic and there are questions as to whether it will ever be the same. We

have lost millions of people globally that has impacted our economy, hospitals and day to day

lives. Doctors Renaissance Hospital Health in Edinburg, Texas has faced unprecedented

amounts of people hospitalized due to COVID-19. It has delayed people from receiving non-

COVID treatments and operations and has built up occupancy in the emergency rooms.

Therefore, in an effort to reduce these burdens and help curb the pandemic it is important to

receive extended state funding in an effort to curve the pandemic once and for all.
Step One:

Doctors Hospital at Renaissance(DHR) serves Edinburg,Texas and the entire Rio Grande

Valley to improve the well-being of those they serve with a commitment to excellence in every

patient, every encounter, every time.1 The vision of DHR is to create a world class health system

to advance and increase access for the communities they serve by empowering caregivers to

heal through compassion, knowledge and innovation and integrated care and excellence. 1 What

is unique is about COVID and this hospital is that it serves a predominantly Hispanic population.

Edinburg, Texas has a population of roughly 100,243 with roughly 89 percent of the population

being of the Hispanic or Latino race.2 The Rio Grande Valley as a whole has a population of 1.4

million people with 93.53 percent of the entire population coming from the Hispanic/Latino

race.3 COVID-19 is associated with high morbidity and mortality and current estimates are that

nearly 20% of patients require hospitalization, 5% critical care. 4 It has been researched that

Hispanic, Black and Asian Islander and Native people are almost four times as likely to be

hospitalized from COVID and twice and likely to die from COVID-19 than their white

counterparts.5

Step Two:

The global pandemic COVID-19 has put a burden on hospitalizations across the world

and especially in the Rio Grande Valley. The new vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer are set to be

upwards of 95 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 and would in turn reduce the burden

and healthcare costs associated with COVID-19.6 Therefore, in an effort to reduce the burden of

hospitalizations we are calling for an expansion in state funding of 14 million dollars and an

annual stable fund to implement and administer a COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Our goal is to
designate a vaccine center to administer vaccines for the local community regardless of patient

status or not within 6 months of receiving funding. This goal will be measured based on how

quickly we are able to develop this rollout and the vaccine turnout over the course of the next

several months. There may be some vaccine hesitancy or people unaware that this program

exists which is why we will invest in promoting the program and educating the public on the

safety and efficacy of these vaccines. We understand that in Texas there may be some conflict

with political parties' views on this vaccine, and we are willing to compromise to a certain

extent but in an effort to curb this pandemic and protect the community, it is urgent that we

receive these funds for a vulnerable population.

Step Three:

Bobby Guerra, the State representative of District 41 in Texas, would be a great

candidate to help us with our vaccine rollout goal. Born and raised in Edinburg, Texas Bobby

Guerra has helped his community in many ways than one. He has practiced in federal and state

courts on behalf of the entire Rio Grande Valley. He is dedicated to advocating for the people

and the community of his home.7 He has also served on the House committee of Public Health

his entire career in office and is now a senior member of the committee. Within this position he

has been advocating for health-care challenges that plague the Rio Grande Valley as a whole,

such as affordable and quality health care.8 With this being said, he is an excellent candidate to

help DHR health advocate to the Texas Senate and the Governor of Texas for extra funding to

adopt a COVID-19 vaccine rollout. We will keep Representative Bobby Guerra informed on our

goal and mission for this program and listen to and utilize his input as well.

Step Four:
 The main components to this process are phase 1: educational efforts for current staff,

and community phase. Phase 2: designating an area in the hospital for the vaccine rollout.

Phase 3: order the supplies necessary for vaccination and train current employers, and then

Phase 4: would be to promote the program and the administering of the vaccine process.

However, before any of this can happen it is important the funding be set in stone before phase

1 occurs. This timing could be affected based on the Texas legislature work days and which

cycle they work with. The regular legislative sessions in Texas are between Mid-January and

adjourn in May.9 It would be very important to bring this up to representative Bobby Guerra

and work with him before Mid-January so that it can be of the utmost priority to the legislative

body when in session.

Step Five:

Since we are in a hospital, there are physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other

employees across the region that are experiencing hospital burdens. DHR Health also works

with the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley and has a strong relationship with the Medical

School and will utilize them as allies to help promote and implement this vaccine rollout. 10 The

strategies that we will employ are going to be educating them on the importance of vaccine

rollouts and how it could save costs and burden across the healthcare system as a whole and

not just the hospital.

Step Six: Develop your message about this financial request. What arguments will resonate

with your decision maker? Are there certain words, or language, that your audience would find

more palatable? Can you refute the opposition’s arguments in your own messages?
 This request of 14 million for the vaccine rollout will be presented to governor of Texas

and state representative. For the state representative this financial request will come from his

input on how we should and not allocate to this program. When presented to the Governor of

Texas we will defend our argument on funding by acknowledging that we are willing to work

with him and compromise, but to a certain extent. Coming from a predominantly democratic

district in Texas, it can create a barrier when working with a Republican Governor. We will

highlight the urge and the necessity for vaccines in the Rio Grande Valley.

Step Seven:

As mentioned earlier, vaccine hesitancy and distrust can be a barrier for the community

to get vaccinated. In an effort to overcome this, we will create campaigns and ads whether it be

on the radio or newspaper or through social media for the general population. This campaign

will create informationals in the form of fliers that will be posted on social media and

throughout the community. This campaign will also be uploaded to the DHR Health’s website so

that it is accessible virtually. The campaign will have scientific based evidence on the efficacy

and safety of vaccines in an effort to educate the population of Edinburg on the importance of

vaccines. It will also contain detailed steps and information on how to sign up for vaccines and

different resources that are available for them. We will also team up with local leaders and

show that if they are willing to get vaccinated, then the community can have trust in vaccines.

In an effort to make it equitable, it will be provided in both and spanish translations to reach

more individuals.

Step Eight:
 We will prepare a policy-one pager, print it, and post it around town through local

community members, healthcare providers, and leaders within the community. It will also be

emailed to different stakeholders throughout the community.

Step Nine:

Advocacy is going to be very important for this program. The main parts needed

advocating for are the safety and efficacy of vaccines, the need for funding in a vulnerable

population, and advocating to the community to receive and utilize this program. The advocacy

will begin before legislation is in office so that Eddie Garcia can help advance this message

about the need of funds for vaccine rollout. This meeting would be set up by an appointment

with him and we would take time to educate him about our plans and how it could benefit the

community from a Public Health stance. Since he is a part of the Texas Public Health community

as well, it would be beneficial to get his input as well on the program and any advocacy help. If

he is unable to meet we will be sure to reach out to him and his office to get our message

across.

Step Ten:

Another important thing about this is not utilizing these resources temporarily, but

creating partnerships for life. It is important to create a positive relationship with Eddie Guerra

because of his role in Public Health. It is understood that COVID-19 will not be the only disease

that will come across us so establishing this partnership to help each other advocate for our

community and people is important. We will follow up regularly with Mr. Guerra and voice our

opinions with him with the community members being the utmost priority.
 Sources
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Valley. [online] Available at: <https://dhrhealth.com/about> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
2. Data.census.gov. 2022. Explore Census Data. [online] Available at:
<https://data.census.gov/cedsci/> [Accessed 22 April 2022].
3. Connect, R., 2022. RGV Health Connect :: Demographics :: Region :: Rio Grande Valley. [online]
Rgvhealthconnect.org. Available at:
<https://www.rgvhealthconnect.org/demographicdata?id=281259> [Accessed 22 April 2022].
4. Khera R, Jain S, Lin Z, Ross JS, Krumholz H. Evaluation of the Anticipated Burden of COVID-19 on
Hospital-Based Healthcare Services Across the United States. Preprint. medRxiv.
2020;2020.04.01.20050492. Published 2020 Apr 3. doi:10.1101/2020.04.01.20050492
5. Dhrhealth.com. 2022. About | DHR Health | DHR Health | Serving McAllen and Rio Grande
Valley. [online] Available at: <https://dhrhealth.com/about> [Accessed 20 April 2022].
6. Comparative effectiveness of moderna, pfizer-biontech, and Janssen (Johnson &amp; Johnson)
vaccines in preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations among adults without immunocompromising
conditions - United States, March–August 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7038e1.htm. Published September 23, 2021.
Accessed April 20, 2022.
7. Representatives, T., 2022. Texas House of Representatives. [online] House.texas.gov. Available
at: <https://www.house.texas.gov/members/> [Accessed 22 April 2022].
8. https://voteguerra.com/issues/
9. Selena Saucedo KB. 2021 State Legislative Session Calendar. National Conference on State
Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/2021-state-legislative-
session-calendar.aspx. Published January 3, 2022. Accessed April 18, 2022.
10. https://dhrresearch.org/about/partnership-affiliations/