State Senator Leading Fight for Austin Medical School
During the latest monthly meeting of West Austin Democrats, state Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin captivated his fellow party members with a pitch he has nearly perfected over the last several months.
Speaking with his trademark Texas twang, Watson, a lawyer and former Austin mayor, reminded about 50 constituents that their hometown is the epicenter of state politics, with a vibrant culture and plenty of intellectual capital. He also told them it is one of the few cities in the nation that is home to a top-tier research university but is without its own standalone medical school.
Watson told them ...
Comments (3)
Rudy Gonzales
We need more educational institutions in Texas, and another Medical School would be great, but me thinks this is just another ploy for the TEA-GOP-Republican stall warts to distract from the real issue that jobs are the main thrust for Texas and America. Let's watch him closely and see just how this would play out. If a Texas politician in Austin is talking, He's probably lying!
HC Policy
Readers might enjoy this entertaining explanation of how the health care arms race does indeed stimulate the economy, but not necessarily in the way we want it to.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/dr-seuss-explains-health-policy/2011/09/13/gIQABozqPK_blog.html
Healthy Texan
Watson is a Democrat, Rudy.
If the legislature would simply remove outdated and unnecessary regulations on nurse practitioners then we can quickly close the physician shortfall. Nurse practitioners are masters educated and spent a minimum of 2 years as a practicing RN prior to acceptance into a nationally certified NP program. The physician groups continue to block efforts to remove costly regulations on NPs because they fear the competition and loss of income.
40 years worth of peer-reviewed research clearly shows that nurse practitioners provide equal to or higher quality primary care services as that of a physician. Get the medical associations out of the way and let's start thinking of the patients first.