SLS 19RS-1814 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 103
BY SENATORS ALARIO AND THOMPSON
COMMENDATIONS. Commends President Hines on his lifetime commitment to rural
hospitals in the state.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend former Louisiana State Senate President Donald Elliot Hines, MD on his
3 exceptional career as both a physician and an elected representative of the people,
4 focusing on his extraordinary efforts to ensure that excellent medical care remains
5 available to the people of Louisiana, especially those living in rural parishes.
6 WHEREAS, Donald Elliott Hines was born in Avoyelles Parish in the town of
7 Bunkie on November 14, 1933; and
8 WHEREAS, the reach of Dr. Hines' career has included selfless service as a
9 physician, a Navy doctor, an elected representative of the people, and a man of Christian
10 character and conviction in serving his fellow man; and
11 WHEREAS, following his studies, Dr. Hines enlisted in the United States Navy,
12 serving from 1959 through 1963, and he began his medical practice in Bunkie, Louisiana,
13 in 1966; and
14 WHEREAS, Don Hines was a small town family practitioner at a time and in a place
15 where the role of the doctor was much broader than just what takes place in the exam room,
16 and Dr. Hines became active in his community, championing the building of a hospital in
17 Bunkie and in other rural areas; and
18 WHEREAS, Dr. Hines began his service in the Louisiana State Senate in 1993,
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1 where he would serve until term limits required the end of that elective service in 2008; and
2 WHEREAS, in 2004, Senator Don Hines was chosen to lead the Senate as president
3 for his last term in the body; and
4 WHEREAS, perhaps the most important legislation that Senator Hines authored was
5 known as the Rural Hospital Preservation Act of 1997 which sought to protect hospitals
6 serving rural populations in Louisiana; and
7 WHEREAS, the legislation provided for reimbursements that would support the rural
8 hospitals in Louisiana and additional protections for those hospitals; and
9 WHEREAS, with a state in which more than sixty percent of the parishes are
10 considered "rural", the healthcare of the citizens in those areas is dependant on good quality
11 hospital care available in local communities and ensuring the availability of that care was
12 the purpose of this landmark healthcare law in 1997; and
13 WHEREAS, following the passage of this legislation, the Rural Hospital Coalition
14 (RHC), Inc., a 501(c)(6) organization, was established and membership is open only to
15 hospitals of sixty beds or fewer and those serving parishes with a population of sixty-five
16 thousand or fewer residents; currently membership is at forty-eight hospitals; and
17 WHEREAS, in a time when electronic medical records are mandated, but expensive,
18 the RHC set up the Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange (LARHIX) to implement
19 the statewide electronic medical records system; and
20 WHEREAS, from 2007 until very recently, Dr. Hines served as executive director
21 of LARHIX and he lent his time and talent to that organization, essential to protecting those
22 rural hospitals in the digital world; and
23 WHEREAS, Dr. Don Hines has tirelessly worked to improve healthcare in the rural
24 areas of Louisiana and his experience in that aspect of healthcare has been invaluable to
25 sustaining these hospitals and keeping them serving their rural populations; and
26 WHEREAS, when assessing the contributions to the good of society and especially
27 to patients in the rural areas of the state, it is impossible to overstate the impact former
28 Senator Don Hines, MD has had on the ability of the state of Louisiana to maintain the good
29 health of its citizens and a debt is owed to this quiet, but effective voice for preserving the
30 hospitals that are so vital in rural areas of the state.
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1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
2 commend former Louisiana State Senate President Donald Elliot Hines, MD on his
3 exceptional career as both a physician and an elected representative of the people focusing
4 on his particular efforts to ensure that excellent medical care remains available to the people
5 of Louisiana, especially those in the rural areas of the state.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
7 Dr. Don Hines.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SCR 103 Original 2019 Regular Session Alario
Commends former Senate President Donald Elliot Hines, MD on his extraordinary career,
and his particular efforts to ensure that excellent medical care remains available to the
people of Louisiana, particularly those in the rural areas of the state.
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