A Show of Support
Secretary of Health and Human Services Announces Plan to Help Flood-Damaged Institutions

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson toured three Texas Medical Center institutions July 6 for a firsthand look at the damage sustained from Tropical Storm Allison. Immediately following the tour, Thompson held a press conference in the basement of The Methodist Hospital, where he announced special provisions the federal agencies under his department's jurisdiction will implement to help Texas Medical Center institutions hit by the storm.

These provisions include:

• The National Institutes of Health, which is under Thompson's department, will extend construction application deadlines until Sept. 1, so that the institutions can have additional time to submit requests for construction grants for research and animal facilities.
  
  
• The NIH will waive the normal requirement for matching funds from the institutions for construction of new research and animal facilities.
  
  
• Health and Human Services will pay for institutions to lease and later purchase research equipment ruined in the flood. Money to lease the equipment, such as expensive electron microscopes, will be drawn from the Health and Human Services' current fiscal year budget, which ends Sept. 30. Money to purchase the equipment will then be available in the 2002 budget, which begins Oct. 1 this year.
  
  
• NIH staff will work with researchers whose projects have been compromised or delayed, and NIH will extend research project timeframes as needed to ensure that valuable projects are continued. The NIH provides about $400 million in funding for medical research in the Houston area.
  
  
• The Centers for Medicare and Medi-caid Services, which fall under Thompson's department, will facilitate prompt payment of Medicare claims. The office has instructed its Medicare contractors, who pay Medicare claims, to respond as quickly as possible to requests for accelerated or advanced payments, and to relax requirements for certain documents, such as medical records, that may have been destroyed by floodwaters.
  
  
• The Centers for Medicare and Medi-caid Services are also providing emergency approval to facilities to use beds and other resources flexibly, and in some cases to share resources. For example, the agency has given special permission to Memorial Hermann Hospital, a Medicare-approved transplant facility, to temporarily perform transplants for its patients at other hospitals within the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System That are not certified for transplants. This arrangement is in effect until Memorial Hermann's Texas Medical Center hospital resumes transplant services the week of Aug. 7.

"These are unusual steps, but they will make millions of dollars available quickly to help restore the research capacity that has been lost or damaged in the Texas Medical Center's facilities," Thompson said.

Donning protective gear and goggles to guard against mold and other contaminants, Thompson toured flood-damaged sections of Memorial Hermann Hospital, The Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. He was accompanied by Reps. Ken Bentsen Jr.,

D-Houston and Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, and House Majority Whip Tom DeLay. Representatives from the NIH, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Texas Division of Emergency Management also attended. Famed heart pioneer Dr. Michael DeBakey accompanied the group as well. Dr. DeBakey is Chancellor Emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine and is the namesake of the Methodist Hospital's DeBakey Heart Center.

Initial damage estimates at the three institutions included on the tour are $433 million at Memorial Hermann, primary teaching hospital for The University of Texas Medical School at Houston; $296 million at Baylor College of Medicine; and $195 million at The Methodist Hospital. Overall damage to Texas Medical Center institutions is estimated at $2 billion, with the pricetag continuing to climb as further losses are documented.

Thompson urged researchers and others frustrated by the loss of their work to not become disillusioned and move elsewhere. "Rebuilding structures and replacing lost equipment is doable. But to lose the incredible talent that has made the medical center what it is today - that's irreplaceable. We want you to stay here, see this through, and come back better than ever," he said.

The "silver lining," he added, is that institutions can now rebuild, taking advantage of federal funding to improve their designs.

"Maybe you've said for years that you want to do this, or you wish you could do that. Now you have the resources to implement those changes ... these kinds of opportunities can make you stronger than ever."

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/08_01_01/page_01.html