89R24983 BPG-D
By: Guillen H.R. No. 913
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis H. Wright Jr. of San Antonio concluded
his noteworthy tenure as chair of the Chronic Kidney Disease Task
Force in December 2024; and
WHEREAS, Appointed to the task force by the governor in 2019,
Dr. Wright was named chair two years later; the team of experts
coordinates the implementation of the state's plan for the
prevention, early screening, diagnosis, and management of chronic
kidney disease, and it educates health care professionals as well;
and
WHEREAS, Now retired, Dr. Wright worked tirelessly in behalf
of chronic kidney disease patients during more than four decades as
both a surgeon and advocate; he performed over 3,000 transplants,
and as medical director of Transplant Care Consultants, he
addressed such issues pertaining to care as quality, outcomes, and
access; prior to that role, he served as founding director of organ
transplantation as well as director of the Solid Organ Transplant
Program and of the Transplant Surgery Fellowship Program at the
Texas Transplant Institute on the campus of Methodist Specialty and
Transplant Hospital in San Antonio; in addition, he established and
directed the transplant program at Centennial Medical Center in
Nashville, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, Dedicated to improving health care, Dr. Wright
helped to develop national transplant policy as a member of several
committees of the United Network for Organ Sharing, and he served as
president of both the South-Eastern Organ Procurement Foundation
and the American Foundation for Donation and Transplantation; he
further gave of his time and knowledge to boards and committees of
the State of Texas Kidney Foundation and the U.S. Renal Network 14;
his professional affiliations have included the American Society of
Transplant Surgeons and the International Transplantation Society,
among others; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Wright's research regarding organ transplant
topics appeared in numerous publications; a fellow of the American
College of Surgeons, he received his medical degree from The
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and
completed an organ transplant fellowship at the University of Iowa
Hospitals in 1988 as a member of its surgery faculty; and
WHEREAS, Through his leadership and vision, Francis Wright
greatly advanced the important mission of the CKD Task Force, and
his contributions are indeed deserving of special recognition; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas
Legislature hereby honor Dr. Francis H. Wright Jr. for his service
as chair of the Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force and extend to him
sincere best wishes for the future; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Dr. Wright as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives.