FROM THE PRESIDENT

As always, this year’s Texas Medical Center News international issue highlights some of the many international activities of the 42 Texas Medical Center institutions.

These stories illustrate the commitments that TMC institutions are making to provide top-notch health care to those in other lands. For more than 50 years, health care practitioners, scientific researchers and students have come from abroad to the Texas Medical Center to work, study and take home expertise gained while here. Patients, and their families too, have come to access some of the best available health care the world has to offer – last year, a record number of more than 19,000 international patients journeyed here. Countries sending the greatest numbers of patients were Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Italy, San Salvador, and the United Arab Emirates.

While physicians, nurses and other health care practitioners in other countries may provide the best care that they can, because of infrastructure constraints, many of them do not have access to up-to-the-minute technology – much of which is developed right here within the Texas Medical Center. For some patients, this technology is needed to expedite the healing process, and aids in making them, as well as their families, as comfortable as possible during what is certainly a most distressing time.

Upon arrival, our international patients and their families are given first-class attention. Patient advocate teams at the institutions provide language assistance through interpreters and are conscious of cultural differences and needs. The commitment of the institutions to international patient care is exemplified by the 45 members of the Texas Medical Center International Affairs Advisory Council. Collectively and within their respective institutions, council members work to ensure that visits from patients, health care providers, students and researchers are successful – from arrival to departure. I am proud to serve as a member of this vital committee.

TMC institutions have many local partners who share an interest in international affairs. Among them are the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the city of Houston Aviation Department, the Houston Consular Corps, the Houston International Protocol Alliance, the city of Houston International Trade Committee and the Greater Houston Visitors and Convention Bureau, to name a few. We thank these agencies for their never-ending support.

As it continues to expand its mission of excellence in patient care, research and education throughout the world, the Texas Medical Center offers a heart-felt "welcome" to those international visitors who choose our health care professionals to provide high-quality, uncompromised care. Our institutions provide a safe, secure environment for those who pass through their doors, and stand ready to serve the world’s health care needs now, and far into the future.

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/03_01_02/page_25.html