H.R. No. 255
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, In recognition of the outstanding efforts of a truly
exceptional Texan, the Rotary Club of El Paso honored Dr. Herbert
H. Ortega with its Distinguished Service Award on June 23, 2011;
and
WHEREAS, A native of Bogota, Colombia, Herbert Hernando
Ortega has lived mostly in the United States since the age of nine,
spending his formative years in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and becoming a
U.S. citizen in 1957; he served in the Ohio National Guard until
being honorably discharged in 1959, and he earned degrees in the
social sciences, economics, public administration, political
science, and medicine; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Ortega's career has included resident
assignments in New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and
Central America; during a one-year assignment in El Paso to assess
health program opportunities for the Pan American Health
Organization, a division of the World Health Organization, he
decided to make the city his home; he became the chief of a field
office of PAHO and the executive director of the United
States-Mexico Border Health Commission, working to integrate
health care approaches among different levels of government and
engaging the private sector to provide support; and
WHEREAS, The many noteworthy initiatives Dr. Ortega has
overseen during his career include projects addressing neonatal and
child care, rabies, tuberculosis, cleft lip and palate, and HIV and
AIDS; he has worked with numerous institutions and groups, such as
the Health Officers Association of California, the Carnegie
Corporation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and the Pew
Charitable Trusts, among others; he is now the CEO of InterAmerica
Management of Mexico; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Ortega has lectured extensively on economic,
political, social, and health conditions affecting the United
States and Mexico; moreover, he has been a chief researcher on a
number of studies and a member of many task forces, and he taught
health care administration and the history of economic thought at
New Mexico State University for a dozen years; his accomplishments
have been recognized with resolutions from the Texas Department of
State Health Services, the California Legislature, and government
officials from the United States and Mexico; in addition, he
received an award from the Visiting Nurse Association of El Paso;
and
WHEREAS, An active member of Rotary International, Dr. Ortega
has traveled to Colombia and Central America in behalf of the
organization and was instrumental in promoting its involvement in
efforts to eradicate polio worldwide; he currently serves as the
president of the Rotary Club of El Paso; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Herbert H. Ortega is a dedicated leader whose
commitment to his profession and to public health has made a
positive difference in the lives of many people in the United
States, Mexico, and around the world, and he is most deserving of
this prestigious honor; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby congratulate Dr. Herbert
H. Ortega on his receipt of the 2011 Distinguished Service Award
from the Rotary Club of El Paso and extend to him sincere best
wishes for continued success; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Dr. Ortega as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives.
Margo
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 255 was adopted by the House on June
28, 2011, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House