Dear Community Leader,

This month, we began celebrating Texas Health’s 25th anniversary, commemorating the coming together of Presbyterian Healthcare Resources, Harris Methodist Health System and Arlington Memorial Hospital back in 1997.

Having been here since the beginning, I know we could not have reached this milestone without the collaboration and support of many in our community, including yourselves.

Texas Health and the community support one another, making North Texas a healthier place to live, work, play and pray for all. And as a faith-based nonprofit health system rooted here, we are committed to being a community asset that all can rely on for generations to come. Recently one of our consumers shared what Texas Health meant to three generations of her family.

More North Texans choose Texas Health for their acute care needs than any other health system in the area. Over the last 25 years, we have delivered more than 600,000 babies and performed over 2 million surgeries. We currently have nearly 400 points of access staffed by 27,000 employees.

The clinically integrated network formed by Texas Health and UT Southwestern in 2016 has long benefited our communities, making your healthcare – from primary care to the most advanced treatments – more accessible and convenient. Just last month, the U.S. News & World Report 2022-2023 Best Hospitals rankings recognized three of our network’s hospitals among the top five in Dallas-Fort Worth. And five Texas Health hospitals recently received five stars, out of five, on Hospital Compare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) website – the most five-star ratings of any health system in the region.

And while there are certainly challenges in our industry, especially with staffing and supply costs, we remain financially sound, with Standard & Poor’s recently reaffirming our double A bond rating with a stable outlook and Moody’s maintaining our Aa2 stable rating.

That allows us to continue caring for North Texans far beyond our own walls.

Over the past quarter-century, Texas Health has given back more than $13 billion to the community. Last year alone, Texas Health provided $927 million in charity care and community benefit – nearly five times more than the state requirement. You can read more in our 10th annual Social Purpose Report.

But we certainly don’t do it on our own.

In our program spotlight, we cover an initiative that brings together our Behavioral Health and Faith & Spirituality Integration teams with faith leaders to identify and support those struggling with alcohol misuse and other issues.

Also in this edition, I discuss additional topics that impact us all.

We’ve launched a new Request for Proposals (RFP) to distribute $8 million in community impact grants. I hope you’ll help us spread the word to local agencies from different sectors, such as education, healthcare and grassroots efforts, that can use a grant to drive meaningful change in the communities they serve. Information about how agencies can apply is below.

Unfortunately, the safety of our healthcare workers continues to be an issue. While it’s troubling that there is a need for this kind of legislation, I’m asking for your support for our efforts to protect caregivers from physical violence and verbal abuse through passage of the federal SAVE Act of 2022. I’ve linked to this bill below and shared the names of legislators to contact to help get it passed.

Lastly, COVID is still with us, and we’re receiving more questions about monkeypox. Information on both is below.

I’m proud of our Texas Health legacy and hopeful for the future. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than in North Texas, leading Texas Health and working with you, my fellow business and community leaders.

I encourage all who share similar goals to get involved. Start by contacting me at AskBarclay@TexasHealth.org.

Sincerely,

Barclay Berdan