The Rio Grande Valley GME Consortium, Inc. has been incorporated to help meet the shortage needs of the area a core function of GME Consortium is to provide foundation learning, education, and training, through a holistic approach. To meet the needs of the Rio Grande Valley’s diverse population, GME Consortium is creating a challenging learning environment that encourages high expectations for success through education and services. This holistic approach is accomplished through GME Consortium’s board, staff and member organizations including Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System (DHR).
GME Consortium’s services are essential to the community because, historically there are limited programs here offering these charitable healthcare and preventive services, even though the needs are high and continue to grow. A recent health assessment conducted on the community in the LRGV determined that there is a substantial need in the following areas:
The foundation will initially serve a total of three (3) counties in the GME Consortium and DHR service area which currently include: Hidalgo, Starr, and Cameron Counties. Based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s criterion, the tri-county area fits all the requirements as a Medically Underserved Area (MUA). These variables include the ratio of primary medical care physicians to population, infant mortality rates, percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and percentage of the population age 65 or over.
Currently, the tri-county area has a primary medical care physician to patient ratio of 1:862 which is lower than the nation’s average of 1:413. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the area experiences a 4.6% infant mortality rate with the largest number of infant mortalities occurring within the first month for low birth-weight babies. Further, according to the 2010 U.S. Census the total population of the tri-county area is 1,241,957. Of this population, 9.9% (122,954) are over the age of 65, and 30.6% (380,039) have an income below the poverty level.
Based on the federal Index of Medical Underservice Data Tables, a completely underserved area index is 0 and 100 represents best served or least underserved. The Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) is applied to data on a service area to obtain a score for the area. The value of each of the variables for the service area is converted to a weighted value, according to the established procedures. The four values are summed to obtain the area’s IMU score. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), each service area or population group found to have an IMU of 62.0 or less qualifies for designation as a Medically Underserved Area. The index value for the tri-county area is 26.6 which is a clear indication that the tri-county is a substantially Medically Underserved Area.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), approximately 21 percent of annual Hispanic deaths are related to heart disease. Hispanics in the United States are also disproportionately affected by diabetes, with Hispanic women having a 52.5 percent risk of developing diabetes during their lifetimes and a 45.4 percent risk for Hispanic men. Among Hispanics in the United States, there are 4.8 to 7.3 deaths out of every 1,000 live births. A study conducted by the Utah Department of Health showed a substantial number of Hispanics did not receive prenatal care due primarily to language and cultural barriers when accessing the health care system. Based on these statistics, the numbers of currently available Medical Providers by Specialty within a fifty and one hundred (100) mile radius:
Number of Medical Providers by Specialty
Family Practice/ Internal Medicine
50 Mile Radius* 459 100 Mile Radius* 838
Pediatric Medicine
50 Mile Radius* 22 100 Mile Radius* 27
Obstetrics/ Gynecology
50 Mile Radius* 70 100 Mile Radius* 93
Cardiology
50 Mile Radius* 37 100 Mile Radius* 56
Pulmonary Disease
50 Mile Radius* 18 100 Mile Radius* 28