By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde Regional Medical Center and Val Verde County will co-host a “Heart Health”
educational event at the Val Verde County Community Center on Feb. 22.
The event was announced during the county commissioners court meeting on Jan. 29.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. read the heading of the agenda item: “Discussion and
possible action for approval to allow Val Verde Regional Medical Center (VVRMC) to
host a “Heart Health” educational event at the community center on Saturday, Feb. 22, at
10 a.m. The event will consist of the following: educational presentation on heart disease,
diabetes and healthy eating.”
VVRMC Chief Executive Officer Jorge Jurado attended the meeting and walked to the
podium to address the court.
Before Jurado spoke, Owens said, “I know we had talked the other day that maybe we
could do this at Comstock and the (county) Self-Help Center or even there in San Felipe,
and pick a spot for Precinct 1. We’ll see how this goes, but, if we could open that door
and you could visit with the other three commissioners to see what they’d like to have.”
“Absolutely,” Jurado said.
Heart Health event
He introduced himself and greeted the court and said, “One of our biggest initiatives for
calendar year 2025 is community outreach and education. How we want to tackle it this
year is different. We don’t want to host as many events at the hospital. We want to come
out to the community.
“So, our first event that we’re proposing is a ‘Heart Health’ event at the community
center in Precinct 4 where we’re going to take our team, which consists of a cardiology
practitioner, exercise physiologist, our dietary chef from the hospital and a physical
therapist. We want have this event to educate people on diabetes heart health and healthy
eating,” Jurado said.
The county community center is located at 1690 Cienegas Road.
Jurado said the event will consist of a presentation, then glucose level and blood pressure
checks for individuals who attend, as well as a presentation by the chef on healthy meal
preparation.
“He’s going to show us what we can do differently to eat healthier,” Jurado said.
“One of our physical therapists is also going to do an exercise class to give our
community some ideas on what they can do at home to stay active,” he added.
Jurado said the hospital would love to be able to offer alternate events in each
commissioner’s precinct.
“We’re really excited about this. Our team’s excited. There’s just so much we can do to
educate our community. As you look at our community, the demographics, our biggest
opportunity here is preventative health. There’s a lot of chronic illness, and a lot of it can
be delayed or even prevented, but we have to start with education. We have to start with
healthy choices,” Jurado said.
Owens said he would provide the other commissioners’ contact information to Jurado so
he can visit with them directly about hosting similar events in their precincts.
Del Rio roots
Owens also noted that Jurado went to school in Del Rio and told the court, “I’d like to
start something that we recognize individuals that went to school here, went off to (go
elsewhere) then came back and are now helping our community.
“I think we probably need to start doing this. It’s not going to be enough,” the county
judge added, saying he would like the commissioners to begin giving him some names of
individuals who meet that criteria.
“I don’t want to hurt Dr. Rios’ feelings, because he is also home-grown, and he came
back,” Owens said, referring to Dr. Carlos Rios, superintendent of the San Felipe Del Rio
Consolidated Independent School District.
To Jurado, Owens said, “I want to thank you for everything you do. I know that we’ve
always had issues at the hospital. It doesn’t matter who’s there, but I’ve heard good
things about the work that you’re doing, and we want to tell you thank you and we
greatly appreciate it.”
Owens reiterated his desire to “do anything to assist” the hospital in its work and asked Jurado to elaborate on a strategic plan he had mentioned.
Strategic plan
Jurado said, “As the city and county continue to grow, the hospital also needs to grow, so
we’re looking at our capacity and what are the opportunities and aligning those initiatives
with the county and the city because we have to grow together.
“The emergency room, obviously, is an opportunity. We’ve put a lot of initiatives right
now, and we’re still doing this. We get to a point where we hit physical walls, where we
kind of have to design what we’re going to do,” Jurado said.
He also told the court the hospital soon will be unveiling its new cardiac catheterization lab.
“There is equipment that has served the hospital for well over 20 years, but now Val Verde Regional Medical Center will have the top-of-the-line cath lab between here and
San Antonio, so we’ll be able to offer our patients that technology. That is a huge
investment, with a lot of support from our (hospital) board,” Jurado said.
Jurado also told the court that on Monday, Jan. 27, the hospital unveiled its new
laparoscopic towers.
“That was a huge investment as well, because that technology was 12 years old. We are
moving in the right direction, and we appreciate your support,” Jurado said.
Jurado added his position at the head of the hospital’s helm is not only a personal
achievement for him and added, “This is where I’m from. This is where my family goes
and my loved ones and your loved ones, so we take it very personal at the hospital that
we want to do what’s right, and we feel like we’re moving in the right direction, so we’ll
continue to update the court, and we appreciate your support.”
County Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores told Jurado,
“We appreciate what
you’re doing, going out into the neighborhoods, to the community center to help the
people that need the help. They need to know what’s going on, something they can use in
their daily lives, with healthy eating and dealing with these diseases. We really appreciate
you, and thank you so much.”
Flores then made the motion to approve the hospital’s request for use of the community
center for the event.
County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez gave the second, and the motion was unanimously approved.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
