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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The State of Texas lost an admired leader in health |
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| 6 | 7 | | care and higher education with the death of former University of |
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| 7 | 8 | | Texas System regent Dr. Mario E. Ramirez of Rio Grande City on May |
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| 8 | 9 | | 22, 2017, at the age of 91; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Born in Roma on April 3, 1926, to Efren and Maria del |
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| 10 | 11 | | Carmen Ramirez, Mario Ramirez attended The University of Texas at |
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| 11 | 12 | | Austin before accepting early enrollment in the University of |
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| 12 | 13 | | Tennessee School of Medicine; he graduated in 1948, and while |
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| 13 | 14 | | completing his residency at Shreveport Charity Hospital, he met the |
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| 14 | 15 | | love of his life, Sarah Aycock, then a student nurse; they married |
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| 15 | 16 | | in 1949 and eventually became the parents of five children, Mario, |
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| 16 | 17 | | Patricia, Norman, Jaime, and Roberto; and |
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| 17 | 18 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Ramirez founded Roma's first family practice |
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| 18 | 19 | | clinic with his wife in 1950; after serving in Japan as a U.S. Air |
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| 19 | 20 | | Force physician for two years, he returned to Starr County and |
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| 20 | 21 | | established its first hospital in 1958; he made daily house calls |
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| 21 | 22 | | over a 50-mile radius and treated many patients who could not afford |
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| 22 | 23 | | to pay; in the wake of Hurricane Beulah, as the county's public |
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| 23 | 24 | | health service director, he led the relief effort for nearly 14,000 |
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| 24 | 25 | | refugees; he and one other physician took care of all their health |
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| 25 | 26 | | emergencies for two days before outside help arrived; and |
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| 26 | 27 | | WHEREAS, Over the course of a half century in family |
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| 27 | 28 | | medicine, Dr. Ramirez cared for countless people and delivered |
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| 28 | 29 | | thousands of babies; he also took on numerous leadership roles in |
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| 29 | 30 | | order to address the needs of medically underserved populations; in |
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| 30 | 31 | | 1969, he was appointed Starr County judge, and during a tenure that |
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| 31 | 32 | | spanned nine years, he was instrumental in the creation of a |
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| 32 | 33 | | hospital taxation district and the construction of Starr County |
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| 33 | 34 | | Memorial Hospital in Rio Grande City; he was appointed to the |
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| 34 | 35 | | development board of the UT Medical Branch in Galveston in 1974, and |
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| 35 | 36 | | he mentored a host of physicians as an assistant professor at both |
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| 36 | 37 | | the Houston and San Antonio campuses of the UT Medical School; from |
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| 37 | 38 | | 1989 to 1995, as a member of the UT Board of Regents, he championed |
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| 38 | 39 | | education in the Rio Grande Valley and worked to address health care |
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| 39 | 40 | | disparities, paving the way for the establishment of a medical |
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| 40 | 41 | | school in the region; he served from 1995 to 2007 as vice president |
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| 41 | 42 | | for South Texas programs of the UT Health Science Center at San |
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| 42 | 43 | | Antonio, and in that role, he developed the Med Ed Program, which |
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| 43 | 44 | | has prepared a host of high school students in the Valley and Laredo |
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| 44 | 45 | | for careers in health science; and |
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| 45 | 46 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Ramirez was the first Hispanic elected |
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| 46 | 47 | | president of the Texas Medical Association, and he further served |
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| 47 | 48 | | as president of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians; on the |
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| 48 | 49 | | national level, he was a member of the National Health Advisory |
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| 49 | 50 | | Council, the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Professions, and the board |
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| 50 | 51 | | of regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health |
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| 51 | 52 | | Sciences; among myriad accolades, he received the Bicentennial |
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| 52 | 53 | | Benjamin Rush Award for Citizenship and Community Service from the |
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| 53 | 54 | | American Medical Association, the Family Doctor of the Year Award |
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| 54 | 55 | | from the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the |
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| 55 | 56 | | Distinguished Alumnus Award from UT Austin; and |
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| 56 | 57 | | WHEREAS, Mario Ramirez made a tremendous impact in South |
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| 57 | 58 | | Texas and beyond as a physician, a public servant, and a tireless |
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| 58 | 59 | | champion of health care access for all, and his remarkable legacy |
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| 59 | 60 | | will continue to resonate in the years to come; now, therefore, be |
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| 60 | 61 | | it |
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| 61 | 62 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 62 | 63 | | Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Dr. Mario E. Ramirez |
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| 63 | 64 | | and extend sincere condolences to all who mourn his passing; and, be |
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| 64 | 65 | | it further |
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| 65 | 66 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 66 | 67 | | prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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| 67 | 68 | | Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Mario |
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| 68 | 69 | | E. Ramirez. |
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