Mayor Hernandez full of praise for DHR Health in Pharr State of City Address

PHARR, Texas – Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez has thanked DHR Health for a “monumental partnership” it has entered into with his city.

In his recent 2025 State of the City Address, Hernandez, himself a medial doctor, noted that DHR is building the first ever hospital in Pharr. 

“Pharr continues to trail-blaze in expanding mental health resources for our community. In November, the City of Pharr and DHR Health celebrated a historic partnership as we broke ground on the new Behavior Health Hospital, the first hospital here in the great City of Pharr,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez then played a video about the new hospital. It stated: “This 200-bed state-of-the-art facility was partially funded by Texas’ historic $2.1 billion mental health investment allocated by the Texas Legislature and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The City of Pharr donated over ten acres for the hospital, which will open in summer 2026, providing critical inpatient and outpatient services and creating jobs for the local community.”

The video featured DHR Health’s Chairman of the Board, Dr. Carlos Cardenas.

“Transformational change doesn’t happen overnight. It happens a piece at a time. I’ve always likened it to a big jigsaw puzzle, because that’s what healthcare is. Community has always been Job One. It’s about all our patients, our families, that they don’t have to leave this area in order to be able to receive healthcare that is being afforded to other areas of similar size,” Cardenas said.

Hernandez said he was fortunate to have the CEO of DHR Health, Dr. Manish Singh, and the health system’s Chief of Staff, Maritza Padilla, in the audience. After asking them to stand, Hernandez praised them to the hilt.

“I want you to know you heard that we wanted a hospital last year, and I was impressed with the negotiations. And I want everybody to know I expected a dogfight, to be honest. That’s what I expected. But when we met Dr. Singh and his colleague, Ms. Padilla, with our leadership, that gentleman, and I say it proudly, that gentleman has superb leadership skills. He put our community first. He made sure that the City of Pharr and DHR Health were balanced, that we would help each other out, there was nobody going to be taking advantage of the other side, which, frankly, is something we see to often,” Hernandez said.

“You (Singh) are innovative, you’re very aggressive, and I like that. You think outside the box, just like Pharr does. And just like Pharr, we rely on exceptional employees to get it done. We have our city manager. You have, Ms. Padilla, and I want to thank you, Ms. Padilla, for being there. Your presence helped a lot. It made people feel part of the DHR family. And I hope you guys felt the same way when you met our team, that you felt part of the great City of Pharr family. You are, I know, the right hand. You get it done. You do it with finesse and with great pride. So thank you both. Thank you for your leadership.”

In his remarks, Hernandez also focused on mental health.

“Our administration has also prioritized health as a crucial component for individual and community well-being. That’s why we were proud to be the first municipality to implement the Mental Health Unit. Through this unit trained police officers effectively respond to situations involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis and get them the appropriate help that they need,” Hernandez said.

“This is just one example of Pharr’s continued commitment to making a positive impact for our community’s well-being.”

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of Mayor Hernandez’s 2025 State of the City Address:

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