HOUSTON – IN THIS EPISODE:
- A Houston mayoral candidate wants to solve the city’s problems.
- Harris Health is going to ask voters to approve a $2.5 billion bond for the new LBJ Hospital.
- A Ben Taub Hospital doctor writes “The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine.”
Gilbert Garcia said he has answers for Houston’s problems and that a recession is coming
Gilbert Garcia has been called the Bond King because of the $22 billion in investments by his bond investment firm. He said his knowledge of finances tells him the arguments about raising the debt ceiling is a problem for all involved.
“Right now, the total debt ceiling is about 30 odd trillion,” he said. “Well, that’s essentially the size of the whole GDP of the country. So, when you see countries in the world that have more debt than the size of their economy, that’s always a precursor to very big problems. And, that’s where we are now.”
He said the city of Houston’s problems are also significant and said competency and transparency have been missing.
“We’ve been fighting with the firefighters for seven years. That’s totally unacceptable and the tax payers are on both sides of the fight,” he said. “We’ve had government intervention and essentially investigations in the housing department, the health department. We now have one of the biggest contracts in the city which is our concession for the airport now under severe controversy, and now there’s litigation.”
Garcia said he has a solid plan to make the city of Houston even better if he is elected mayor and talks more about that in this week’s Houston Newsmakers EXTRA.
Harris Health System seeks billions for improvements and new hospital
Esmaeil Porsa is the President and CEO of the Harris Health System and said the time for big infrastructure improvements is now.
“Today, someone with an acute stroke or acute heart attack who walks into the LBJ hospital, the busiest level 3 trauma center in Texas, will have to be stabilized and transferred somewhere else,” he said.
$2.5 billion for LBJ Hospital is worth it, Harris Health President and CEO Esmaeil Porsa said
As the Harris Health System prepares to ask voters to approve a $2.5 billion bond to include a new LBJ hospital, Dr. Porsa said it’s long past due.
“LBJ Hospital, the future LBJ hospital will be the third adult Level 1 trauma center in Harris County, he said. “And the first outside of the Texas Medical Center, really providing the services to the residents of the county that currently do not exist.”
Porsa talked about the many services that will be improved if a bond is placed on the ballot and approved on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
Houston doctor said Ben Taub is THE example of quality healthcare for the poor
Ricardo Nuila grew up in Houston and graduated from Strake Jesuit High School prior to college and medical school. He said one of the biggest joys of his medical career is to be able to practice in Houston and serve as a Ben Taub Hospital physician.
“I found myself liberated as a doctor to work and be able to listen to patients and focus on the patient,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why I wouldn’t want to leave.”
He said the unique environment at the publicly funded Ben Taub Hospital led him to write the book “The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine.”
“I’d hear about the odysseys that people had to go through in order to get health care,” he said. “They had insurance but they didn’t have enough. They got kicked out of private hospitals. The common thread was they’d end up at Ben Taub.”
Find out why Ben Taub is so unique among county hospitals for its quality of care for the patients and the appreciation by its doctors on this week’s Houston Newsmakers.
For more information on this week’s Houston Newsmakers
· Gilbert Garcia, Managing Partner, Garcia Hamilton & Associates & Candidate for Houston Mayor
· Website: https://garciahamiltonassociates.com/about-us/people/gilbert-a-garcia/
· Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, President & CEO, Harris Health System
· Website: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Peoples-Hospital/Ricardo-Nuila/9781501198045
· Dr. Ricardo Nuila Author “The People’s Hospital , The Perils of American Medicine
· Website: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Peoples-Hospital/Ricardo-Nuila/9781501198045