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BCMS NEWS

San Antonio … and physicians along the border face each gateway to South Texas.” A number of
The Gateway to South Texas day and how these border health concerns things are affecting San Antonio in a pos-
BCMS working to support greater eventually travel north. Manuel Acosta, itive way, for example, the Eagle Ford
presence in the Border Health Caucus MD, a general surgeon in private practice Shale project, trade from Mexico, etc.
in El Paso and also chairman of the BHC, The success of activities such as these is
By Mary E. Nava, MBA stated, “The leadership potential in South what is going to drive San Antonio to a
Chief Governmental and Texas and the border is virtually limitless. larger presence statewide and beyond.
Community Relations Officer To survive in tough practice areas with a Add to that the number of patients who
myriad of challenges is what helps this re- may travel from the border to San Anto-
Twelve years ago, this coming May, the gion of Texas to thrive.” nio for medical care and you then have
Border Health Caucus (BHC) was estab- San Antonio is unique in the sense that an economic impact to this city coming
lished in San Antonio. Former BCMS it most closely mirrors many of the same from South Texas and the border. This
President Antonio Cavazos Jr., MD, was patient-physician issues currently affecting further heightens San Antonio and Bexar
one of the founding members of the BHC, our friends along the border. In effect, the County’s presence.
an informal, ad-hoc caucus, composed of border has a cultural, symbiotic relation- BCMS continues to recruit physicians to
several county medical societies, currently ship with San Antonio. Adding to San An- participate and represent BCMS in the
representing approximately 9,000 physi- tonio’s uniqueness is the fact that back in Border Health Caucus. To learn more
cians, including: El Paso CMS; Val Verde 2003, the passage of tort reform was won about the BHC and how you can partici-
CMS; Maverick CMS, Tri-County (Webb, by 30,000 votes; from El Paso to pate, read the latest BHC brochure online
Jim Hogg, Zapata) CMS; Hidalgo-Starr Brownsville and from Corpus Christi to at www.bcms.org.
CMS, Cameron-Willacy CMS; Nueces San Antonio, more than 15,000 of the Stay tuned to this column for more informa-
CMS; and BCMS. positive votes came from below IH-10 tion on upcoming Border Health Caucus ac-
The BHC was created in an effort to south and IH-37. tivities and conferences. For more information
bring special attention to the myriad of Perhaps for some of these reasons, San on the BHC or to sign up to participate, contact
health issues and concerns that patients Antonio is referred to at times as “the Mary Nava by email at mary.nava@bcms.org.

Unsung Hero

honored

Trista Conyers from Gastroenterology Consultants San An-
tonio was named the BCMS Unsung Hero for December.
She was nominated by Dr. Hays Arnold, who stated: “Ms.
Conyers constantly demonstrates initiative. She has played a
key role with devising and managing three physicians’ sched-
ules in an office with only four exam rooms. She has also
made significant contributions to the planning and develop-
ment of a new, 17,000-square-foot office building and am-
bulatory surgical center, where she will continue to serve as
office manager in charge of numerous personnel and at least
four physicians. She is our go-to person to take care of all ur-
gent issues and is always available to help patients even if it is
after hours. Ms. Conyers frequently works well beyond nor-
mal business hours and is always available to assist, even in
Pictured, from left: Robert Rosso, CEO; Dr. David P. Jones; Trista Cony-
the evenings well after the end of the work day. She has fre-
ers, LVN, office manager; Dr. Hays L. Arnold and Dr. Oscar G. Ramirez.
quently been commended by our patients about her caring
demeanor and attention to their questions and numerous
phone calls. Many of our patients make a point to stop by her Physician members: Please remember to recognize your "Un-
desk to say hello and offer their care. I have even known her sung Hero." Monthly deadlines and additional information are at
to drive patients home or to our surgical center in Stone Oak www.bcms.org.
when their coordinated transportation failed.”

26 San Antonio Medicine • February 2014