Driscoll celebrates 20 years of healthcare services in Brownsville

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Driscoll Health System recently celebrated 20 years in Brownsville.

An event held at Driscoll Medical Plaza–Brownsville featured information booths, giveaways, and a special presentation from three Driscoll leaders.

The three were Matt M. Wolthoff, president of Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley; Sarah Garza, Driscoll’s vice president of clinic and physicians’ groups; and Jennifer Brooks, COO of Driscoll Health Plan.

In his remarks, Wolthoff said celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Driscoll specialty care clinic in Brownsville is “major milestone” in a long history of service to children in the Rio Grande Valley.

“Over 70 years ago, our founder, Clara Driscoll, had a vision that children in South Texas would have access to high quality healthcare regardless of their ability to pay,” Wolthoff said.

“Through specialty centers and outreach clinics throughout South Texas like this, we’ve been able to make that vision a reality for countless children and their families andparticularly here in Brownsville.”

Wolthoff pointed out that Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley opened on May 8 in Edinburg.

“That is the next step in Driscoll’s commitment to the children of the Rio Grande Valley. The 119-bed independently licensed, free standing, designated children’s hospital offers a full spectrum of pediatric specialty services,” Wolthoff explained. “And going forward, rarely will a child have to leave the Rio Grande Valley for hospitalization.”

The exciting news, Wolthoff said, is that Driscoll is just getting started.

“We will continue to grow services and increase access to care for children here at home, especially here in Brownsville. Brownsville is an incredibly important community to the Driscoll family.”

Garza, Driscoll’s vice president of clinic and physicians’ groups, said Driscoll Medical Plaza started with a vision of bringing sub-specialty pediatric care to Cameron County.

“Patients were traveling for critical procedures and hospitalizations. But we were able to work it out so we can take care of initial visits and follow-up care close to home,” Garza explained.

Garza said that over the last 20 years, Driscoll has grown its network of fellowship trained pediatric sub-specialists to over 130 physicians, with over 20 of those living here in the Rio Grande Valley.

“We work to ensure kids have consistent experiences, no matter if they’re seeing that up in Edinburg, if they’re in our clinic here in Brownsville, or they’re in Corpus Christi.”

Garza said Driscoll continues to add specialties.

“We’re working on adding new service lines every day here in Brownsville. I was surprised when I joined Driscoll, so I’d love to share the list of pediatric sub-specialists who are coming to Brownsville, Garza said.

“We have pediatric endocrinology and diabetes, pediatric general surgery, pediatric GI, pediatric oncology services, pediatric nephrology services, pediatric neurology, pediatric neurosurgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, pulmonology, radiology, urology and maternal fetal services as well. So, a really great list of specialists.”

Garza won applause from the audience after she read this list.

“Some fun statistics. In 2022, in this building, we saw about 8,700 patients. In 2023, we saw about 10,000 patients. When I looked at the numbers ending in October – and congratulations to our clinic team – we had seen over 12,000 visits this year. So, we’re on track to see about 15,000.”

Garza said all patients that visit the Brownsville clinic get personalized, compassionate care from the front desk, the nursing teams, the clinic’s leaderships, and the physicians. She said it is called the Driscoll Way.

“I’m so proud to share we’re continuing to grow what we do here. We are underway right now with some construction plans to add some more exam rooms to our existing space.”

In her remarks, Brooks, COO of Driscoll Health Plan, said the Driscoll Health Plan serves 10 counties in the Hidalgo service area, covering both the Rio Grande Valley and the Laredo market.

“We are proud to have the trust of over 193,000 members, with 40 percent of those are located in Cameron County. They choose us for their coverage,” Brooks said.

“Driscoll Health Plan is committed to advancing community health by partnering with key organizations across the Rio Grande Valley.”

Brooks added that the community initiatives Driscoll has initiated in Cameron County “reflect our commitment to building a healthier, stronger community.”

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 About Driscoll

Driscoll is the premier healthcare provider for kids in South Texas. We are a nonprofit healthcare system that has served communities in the Lone Star State since 1953. Today, Driscoll is the fastest-growing healthcare system in the region, offering care at the region’s only two freestanding designated children’s hospitals: Driscoll Children’s Hospital Corpus Christi and Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley, and at specialty centers and clinics across South Texas. Our non-profit community-based health plan, Driscoll Health Plan, offers Texas families access to local physicians and other lifesaving benefits.

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