Texas Financial Literacy Coalition Champions Earned Income Tax Credit Efforts. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Mike Copeland, Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 19--Shawn Graefser, 30, makes $19,000 a year as a maintenance man at Providence Health Center and a night stocker at the H-E-B grocery store on Wooded Acres Drive. He is married with two young children, and he and his family would like to move into a home of their own.

The dream of homeownership seemed out of reach until Graefser chatted with Chuck Sivess, development officer for the Providence Foundation.

Sivess, meanwhile, said Graefser was 'perfect' for what Providence wanted to do.

What Providence did was blitz employees with information about the Earned Income Tax Credit, which can put extra money in the pockets of low- to middle-income families, and about programs in Waco to help people buy homes.

On Wednesday, the Heart of Texas Financial Literacy Coalition held a luncheon at McLennan Community College to honor the more than 50 organizations, including Providence, that have taken up the cause of spreading the word. Mayor Linda Ethridge emceed the event, and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, spoke.

But in Ethridge's own words, Graefser stole the show with his success story.

Graefser said he has not yet bought a home but he's getting there. And thanks to Providence, he knows about the tax credit that will put an extra $2,200 in his family's budget this year.

'The EITC is like a huge lottery, and you earn your ticket by working hard every day,' Edwards said. 'But many have not claimed that ticket, though it could be worth up to $4,000 a year. Claiming that credit could mean $10 million to Waco families. It could mean being able to pay off that credit card debt or sending a child to MCC for a fine education.'

If you were raising more than one child in your home in 2003 and your family earned less than $33,692, or if you're married and filing jointly and earned less than $34,692, you could get an EITC of up to $4,204.

Waco's literacy coalition was founded about 20 months ago. Maggie McCarthy, executive director of the philanthropic Rapoport Foundation, received a call from an IRS representative who said Waco taxpayers were not claiming millions in EITCs.

'The community was leaving behind $10 million,' said McCarthy, who agreed to spearhead efforts to change that.

The literacy coalition provides free tax preparation and advice to low- and middle-income families; provides basic financial education, such as how to balance a checkbook; and encourages taxpayers to invest their refunds in buying homes.

Carlos Sanchez, editor of the Tribune-Herald, received praise Wednesday for publicizing the coalition's efforts. He said the newspaper can and will champion successes in the community as it points out foibles, adding that the coalition is worthwhile and worth covering.

Kent Keahey, president and CEO of the Providence Healthcare Network, said he was 'shocked' when he found out how many local residents were not filing for the tax credit. His research showed that a thousand of Providence's 1,600 employees made less than $35,000 a year, and that many might qualify for the tax credit. His staff arranged 14 meetings over two weeks with employees.

'At the same time,' Sivess said, 'we were working on a separate project to help our employees get assistance on down payments and closing costs.

We put the two programs together in our meetings with employees.'

Jeff Wall, Waco's director of housing and community development, said some families can qualify for low-interest loans of up to $14,000 to help with down payments. Another program, he says, makes 'forgivable loans' of up to $7,000 available to people who build homes from scratch.

The city also administers a program that provides matching funds to employees whose employers put up money to help with down payments.

To see more of the Waco Tribune-Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wacotrib.com

ROLAND A. GOERTZ, MD, MBA, ASSUMES ROLE OF BOARD CHAIR OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS. - States News Service

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The following information was released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP):

Roland A. Goertz, MD, MBA, FAAFP, a family physician in Waco, Texas, assumes the role of board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians today. Previously, he served one-year terms as president and president-elect, and three years as a member of the AAFP Board of Directors. Goertz was elected to these positions by the Congress of Delegates, the AAFP's governing body. The AAFP represents 100,300 physicians and medical students nationwide.

As board chair of the AAFP, Goertz will advocate on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system. In his 27-year medical career, he has served as a physician in rural private practice, a family medicine residency program director at two Texas residencies, and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School - Houston.

For the past 15 years, Goertz has served as chief executive officer of the three foundations that oversee all operations of the Waco Family Health Center, which operates one of the oldest family medicine residency programs west of the Mississippi River. In 2010 it provided care to 50,000 patients in McLennan County, Texas. Goertz also holds an appointment at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School - Dallas.

A member of the AAFP and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians since 1979, Goertz has served on numerous committees and commissions at the state and national level. He was a member of the AAFP Task Force to Enhance Family Medicine Research. Goertz served as president of the TAFP from 1994 to 1995.

Goertz is past president of the McLennan County Medical Society. He chairs the Texas higher education coordinating board's advisory committee on family medicine residencies and is a past president of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. Goertz represented family medicine on the Council of Academic Societies of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 2000 to 2006. He also served as a member and chair of the Texas Medical Association's Committee on Physician Workforce and Distribution, and was a member of its Council on Medical Education.

Locally, Goertz is a member, and past board chair, of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Waco Business League, the Waco Downtown Rotary Club and serves on the board of the Cooper Foundation, a local philanthropic organization.

The AAFP and the TAFP have recognized Goertz for his hard work and long-term dedication. The TAFP awarded him its Presidential Award of Merit in 1989. In 2003, he won the organization's Political Action Committee Award, and in 2004 he won its Philanthropist of the Year award. He was awarded the AAFP's 2006 Robert Graham Family Physician Executive Award. He also was awarded the 'Gold-Headed Cane'[yen] by the McLennan County Medical Society and Alliance in 2010. The award symbolizes respect, truth, culture and art in the medical profession, and honors doctors for overall excellence in the field of medicine. The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio School of Medicine Alumni Association recently selected Dr. Goertz for their 2011 distinguished Alumni Award.

COOPER FOUNDATION AWARDS FUNDING TO ESTABLISH MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH FACILITY AT THE BAYLOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION COLLABORATIVE (BRIC). - States News Service

Waco, Texas -- The following information was released by Baylor University:

Bill Clifton, chairman of the Cooper Foundation, today announced an award of $250,000 to Baylor University to construct a microgravity research facility within the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC). The BRIC is the cornerstone building of the research and discovery park under construction by Baylor University and its community stakeholders Texas State Technical College in Waco (TSTC), McLennan County, and the cities of Bellmead and Waco.

'This generous gift from the Cooper Foundation is vital to the region,' said Truell Hyde, Ph.D.,Baylor University vice provost for research and director of the Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research (CASPER). 'Establishing a facility such as this within the BRIC not only provides Baylor and TSTC Waco faculty the ability to pursue new research and advanced training opportunities, it also provides incentive for industry partners to collaborate within the BRIC.'

The Cooper Foundation has been an active stakeholder in the BRIC since its inception in 2008, providing funding to bring members of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) to Waco to advise Baylor and its stakeholders regarding strategic planning for development of the facility. The AURP is a nonprofit association of national and international research, technology, and discovery park members that promotes research, industry, and government collaboration to provide economic growth for local communities surrounding research parks.

'The BRIC fits under our Community Visioning priority of promoting economic opportunities,' Clifton said. 'We believe the BRIC may prove one of the most important developments in our community this decade. The Cooper Foundation is pleased to be able to support prestigious research and technology commercialization here.'

There are very few microgravity facilities in the world, and only a small percentage of these provide a true vacuum environment. Those that do are in constant demand, according to Hyde.

'For example, automotive and aerospace engineers have long been interested in the manner in which fuel injection systems influence fuel flow. One of the few mechanisms for exploring this experimentally is through the use of a microgravity facility. The BRIC facility will offer an affordable and repeatable method to conduct such tests in a drag-free, near-zero gravity environment, opening opportunities for Baylor faculty to collaborate with industrial partners,' he said.

About Cooper Foundation

The Cooper Foundation was established in 1943 as a nonprofit, unincorporated trust wholly for the purpose of benevolent public usefulness. For more than 65 years, the Cooper Foundation has been awarding funds to make Waco a better place in which to live. Hundreds of grants and millions of dollars have been given to support the arts, education, health care, social services, historical preservation and tourism, recreation, public safety, city beautification, and feasibility surveys. The Foundation also serves an important role as convener and, at times, leader. For years Cooper has sponsored Waco Leadership Forum, which brings together the heads of important civic institutions. By convening five times a year, the Forum ensures items of common concern may be explored from a variety of perspectives. That is just one example of the many ways Cooper Foundation chooses to provide service to the Waco community.

About Baylor University

Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, classified as such with 'high research activity' by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions.

About BRIC

ROLAND A. GOERTZ, M.D., MBA, ASSUMES ROLE OF PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS. - States News Service

DENVER -- The following information was released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP):

Roland A. Goertz, M.D., MBA, FAAFP, a family physician in Waco, Texas, assumes the role of president of the American Academy of Family Physicians today. Previously, he served three years as a director on the AAFP Board and one year as president-elect. Goertz was elected president-elect in September 2009 by the Congress of Delegates, the AAFP's governing body. The AAFP represents 94,700 physicians and medical students nationwide.

As president of the AAFP, Goertz advocates on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system. In his 26-year medical career, he has served as a physician in rural private practice, a family medicine residency program director at two highly regarded Texas residencies, and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School - Houston.

For the past 14 years, Goertz has served as chief executive officer of the three foundations that oversee all operations of the Waco Family Health Center, which operates one of the oldest family medicine residency programs west of the Mississippi River. It provides care to more than 50,000 patients in McLennan County, Texas. Goertz also holds an appointment at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School - Dallas.

A member of the AAFP and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians since 1979 (he joined as a medical student), Goertz has served on numerous committees and commissions at the state and national level. He actively participated in and chaired the AAFP Commission on Education and Commission on Governmental Advocacy. He was a member of the AAFP Task Force to Enhance Family Medicine Research. Goertz served as president of the TAFP from 1994 to 1995, and he served as a delegate or alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates from 2000 to 2006.

Goertz is past president of the McLennan County Medical Society. He chairs the Texas higher education coordinating board's advisory committee on family medicine residencies and is a past president of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. Goertz represented family medicine on the Council of Academic Societies of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 2000 to 2006. He also served as a member and chair of the Texas Medical Association's Committee on Physician Workforce and Distribution, and was a member of its Council on Medical Education.

Locally, Goertz is a member, and past board chair, of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Waco Business League, the Waco Downtown Rotary Club and serves on the board of the Cooper Foundation, a local philanthropic organization.

Both the AAFP and the TAFP have recognized Goertz for his hard work and long-term dedication. The TAFP awarded him its Presidential Award of Merit in 1989. In 2003, he won the organization's Political Action Committee Award, and in 2004 he won its Philanthropist of the Year award. He was awarded the AAFP's 2006 Robert Graham Family Physician Executive Award. He also was awarded the 'Gold-Headed Cane' by the McLennan County Medical Society and Alliance in 2010. Symbolizing respect, truth, culture, and art in the medical profession, the award honors doctors for overall excellence in the field of medicine.

Goertz graduated from medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center - San Antonio in 1981. He then completed a residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He subsequently completed a clinical teaching fellowship in family medicine in 1986 and received a master's degree in business administration from Baylor University in 2003. Goertz has the AAFP Degree of Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

# # #

Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 94,700 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Approximately one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 228 million office visits each year - nearly 84 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America's underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine's cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

HHS honors organizations for promoting healthy lifestyles. - Health & Medicine Week

2003 DEC 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the eight winners of the first Innovation in Prevention Awards to highlight businesses and organizations that are leading efforts to promote healthy lifestyles in their communities.

The awards, part of President Bush's HealthierUS initiative and Thompson's ongoing emphasis on preventive health, recognized organizations in seven categories that have implemented innovative and creative chronic disease health promotion and prevention programs.

'These awardees go above and beyond the call of duty to promote healthy lifestyles in their communities,' Thompson said. 'We are working from coast to coast to build a healthier, stronger America, and these efforts start at the local level. To promote healthier lifestyles, we need to reach Americans in the places they work, play, and go to school. We have no better partners than these eight organizations.'

To be considered, a program had to address one or more of the following categories of chronic diseases and underlying behavioral risk factors: asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, obesity, physical activity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use.

The following groups are being honored in seven categories:

Faith Based Organization: The Church Health Center, Memphis, Tennessee. The Church Health Center is a non-profit ministry that provides affordable healthcare for the uninsured, prevention services for the community at large, and reaches out to the local faith communities to promote its services. After determining that patients needed a place to learn the tools of preventive healthcare, the Church Health Center opened a state-of-the-art 80,000 square foot prevention and wellness facility known as 'Hope and Healing,' in January 2000. Each month more than 5,000 people, 70% of whom are below the federal poverty level, participate in the program. Each new member participates in 'Prescription for Health,' a 30-minute small group session in which a provider helps new members set healthy behavior goals.

Health Care Delivery System: Southeast Kentucky Community Access Program (SKYCAP), Hazard, Kentucky. SKYCAP hires and trains 'patient navigators' who break down barriers to care for uninsured and underinsured rural families. These families are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, along with others such as cancer and mental illness. In the first 3 years of the program, the navigators helped more than 9,000 patients get access to over 87,000 services, including primary care visits, dental care, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, social services, housing needs, transportation, and most important, education on disease management and prevention. In the participating areas, there has been a 95% reduction in heart disease-related emergency room visits, an 87% reduction in heart disease-related hospital visits, and a 75% reduction in annual cost of hospitalization since the program was implemented.

Healthy Workplace - Small Employer: Waco-McLennan County Public Health District Worksite Wellness Training Program, Waco, Texas. The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District has a workforce of 72 employees, with 40 of them participating in the worksite wellness program. The program helps individuals set personal goals and flexible exercise routines, and employees are given a paid hour each workday to participate in and record the physical activity of their choice. Participants have improved their physical activity by nearly 60%, have a 20% lower body weight, and decreased their cholesterol levels by 11% and blood pressure levels by 4%. The long-term effects of the program include lower rates of sick leave absenteeism, improved work efficiency, and increased productivity.

Healthy Workplace - Large Employer: Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Johnson & Johnson employee health and wellness program integrates disabilities management, employee assistance, occupational health, wellness/fitness, and work-life services. Through innovative programs such as the Online Health Profile program, CareConnect, JOBFIT, and preventive screening and wellness centers, Johnson & Johnson optimizes employee health, well-being, and productivity by delivering leading-edge health and wellness services that promote prevention, education, and self-responsibility. The Health & Wellness program covers more than 47,000 domestic employees. Due to its health programs, health risk among employees declined for 8 out of 13 categories examined. Savings from the programs are about $9 million per year from reduced medical expenses and lower administration costs.

Healthy Workplace - Large Employer: Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Nebraska. On the cutting edge of health promotion program development since 1987, Union Pacific Railroad continues improving its Health Track program to address the evolving medical needs of its employees. Health Track works to identify possible at-risk employees and provide them with intervention programs, company-sponsored exercise opportunities, and general health education and disease management. Recently, Union Pacific identified health and welfare as one of eight major business initiatives receiving special focus for improvement. The continued integration of health promotion with the company's safety culture has resulted in development of a Health Index for field operating personnel. The Health Index allows work units to set goals related to health promotion activities. By establishing measurable goals, each work unit is then able to develop plans to meet these goals.

Schools (K-12): Healthy Kids Network, 19 states. The American Cancer Society's Healthy Kids Network is a community-based program designed to educate and mobilize parents to promote healthier habits among children. Created in Oregon in 1998, the Healthy Kids Network spread nationally in 2000. Local Healthy Kids Networks have worked to meet the needs of individual schools and communities by strengthening local school health policies and programs such as advocating for physical activity in schools or supporting local school health councils. The Healthy Kids Network brings together parents, teachers, school administrators, and community members to educate them about the importance of a quality school health program. Healthy Kids Network communications provide members with the skills and resources to foster changes that strengthen programs and policies in their local schools. Through parents, the Healthy Kids Network continues to support quality health education for kids as a means of providing children with valuable, lifelong, healthful habits. Since 1999, the Healthy Kids Network has grown from 200 members to over 30,000 in 19 states. Findings show that the Healthy Kids Network can be successfully implemented in a wide variety of community setting with minimal cost, making this an easy program to replicate.

Public Sector: Seattle-King County Healthy Homes Project, Seattle, Washington. Seattle-King County Healthy Homes Project (SKCHH) is a nationally recognized leader in helping children with asthma reduce the frequency and severity of their asthma attacks through providing their families with education and resources to make their homes asthma-friendly and to keep asthma under control. By using community health workers who provide information, resources, and support to families, the project has helped reduce the number of days children have asthma symptoms by 60% and the proportion of children using emergency health services by 64% for its first 138 children enrolled in the project. Community health workers have now served more than 500 families in the Seattle area. SKCHH is working with public housing agencies and private landlords to improve structural deficiencies and build new public housing that includes features to minimize exposure to asthma triggers. Such a partnership, which brings together public health experts and housing developers and owners, is both novel and exemplifies the leadership role of SKCHH. One of SKCHH's success stories has led to the inclusion of 'Healthy Homes' features in 1,600 new housing units in the area.

Non-Profit: Campuses Organized & United for Good Health (COUGH), California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN), Sacramento, California. The California Youth Advocacy Network, a funded project of the Department of Health Services - Tobacco Control Section (DHS-TCS), runs the COUGH program and provides technical assistance and training to tobacco control agencies working with young adults 18-24 years of age and to agencies working on college campuses. Through their work, a group of California State University (CSU) students, faculty, and staff, as well as representatives from DHS-TCS-funded organizations from across California, launched the COUGH campaign in January 2002. COUGH is a statewide, grassroots, student-led campaign committed to establishing healthy environments for students. In September 2002, COUGH campaign activities prompted a vote by the California State University Board of Trustees that empowered individual campus presidents to create a 20-foot no smoking zone around building entrances. Since then, 20 of 23 CSU campuses have increased their smoke-free areas.

A panel of 13 people chosen by the Partnership for Prevention, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting health and preventing disease, evaluated and rated programs run by the awardees based on five criteria: creativity and innovation, leadership, sustainability, replicability, and effectiveness. The Partnership for Prevention used the panel's work to help make recommendations to Secretary Thompson.

BAYLOR ALUMNI ASSOCIATION TO PRESENT W.R. WHITE MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARDS AT HOMECOMING. - States News Service

Waco, Texas -- The following information was released by Baylor University:

The Baylor University Alumni Association will present the W. R. White Meritorious Service Award to five individuals during the association's annual membership meeting at Baylor Homecoming. The meeting will be held at the Powell Chapel of Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23.

The award, named for Baylor University's ninth president, has been given annually since 1977 by the association to recognize individuals who -- like Dr. White -- have rendered outstanding service to the university. This year's honorees include Dave Campbell of Waco, D. M. Edwards of Tyler, Lanella Spinks Gray of Brenham, Ruben and Barbara Ann McLeod Santos of Waco, Dr. Raymond Vickrey of Richardson, and John Wilkerson of Lubbock.

A native of Waco, Dave Campbell is the renowned founder of Texas Football magazine. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Baylor in 1950, and three years later he became the sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald, a position he held for 40 years. In 1960 he founded Texas Football magazine, now the most widely read sports publication in Texas. Campbell's success continued in 1993 when he began his 15-year tenure as editor-in-chief of the Baylor Bear Insider, a publication for the Baylor Bear Foundation.

He has received honors from the Football Writers Association of America and the College Sports Information Directors, and he was named a Baylor Distinguished Alumnus in 1992. Currently, he assists in selecting members for the Heisman Trophy, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the High School Football Hall of Fame.

Campbell and his wife, Reba Weaver Campbell, also a Baylor graduate and former writer for the Waco Tribune-Herald, have two daughters, one of whom graduated from Baylor, and three grandchildren. The couple will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in December.

D.M. Edwards is a 1976 Baylor business graduate whose service and generosity have helped many alumni. He is the founding president of the East Texas Baylor Club, and he currently serves as the chair of the group's scholarship committee, helping more than a hundred East Texas residents earn Baylor degrees. Edwards served as chair of the Board of Advisors of Baylor University Libraries and was also involved in the formation of Baylor's Old Main Society, which honors those who give to the university through estate planning.

Edwards's community service reaches well beyond Baylor. He has been president of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra and the Rotary Club of Tyler, and he was chair of the Board of Trustees of East Texas Baptist University.

Edwards is the founder of Edwards Investments, which includes extensive real estate holdings and businesses in Tyler, Shreveport, Houston and Odessa.

Lanella Spinks Gray has served as an unofficial ambassador at Baylor's original campus in Independence, Texas, since 1992. She earned a bachelor's degree in theater and education from Baylor in 1954. When Baylor re-acquired the land where the school's original male campus in Independence was located, the groundwork was laid for Gray's active role in celebrating Baylor's heritage.

Baylor started bringing incoming freshmen to Independence a few years ago as part of the Line Camps program, and since then Gray has helped welcome hundreds of students and educated them on the history of Baylor University. She continues to serve on the Board of Library Advisors, in addition to being a life member of the Baylor Alumni Association and a member of the Baylor Bear Foundation.

Ruben and Barbara Ann McLeod Santos -- members of the Classes of 1959 and 1961, respectively -- served the Baylor community for more than three decades. Every year, they gave up their Thanksgiving holiday to decorate the splendid two-story Christmas tree in the Bill Daniel Student Center. After Ruben's death in March 2008, Barbara continued to be active in Baylor activities, including the Baylor Round Table.

Ruben Santos began his Baylor career in 1967 at the Student Union Building, where he served as director for 35 years and received the Outstanding Staff Award in 1995. He served on the Waco City Council from 1983 to 1990 and was mayor of Waco in 1985. He was also the executive director of the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair.

Barbara Ann McLeod Santos was a registered nurse for many years and held teaching and administrative positions. She was also the chair of the Waco Health Board and served on the Texas Ranger Museum board and the Waco 20-20 Commission.

The Santos family has established an endowed scholarship at Baylor in memory of Ruben Santos.

Dr. Raymond Vickrey served as executive director of the Baylor Alumni Association from 1971 to 1978. During his tenure, he helped usher in numerous important changes, including the organization's establishment as a self-governing, nonprofit association and the implementation of a paid membership structure.

The 1957 Baylor graduate has been involved in Baptist circles for many years, serving on the executive board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and as director of Baptist Studies at Brite Divinity School. Vickrey earned a master's of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the doctor of ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation of Notre Dame University, which named him a distinguished alumnus.

Vickrey is pastor emeritus of Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, where he was pastor for 26 years, retiring in June 2008.

The final award recipient is John Wilkerson , who received a bachelor of business administration degree from Baylor in 1957. Wilkerson has held many offices for Baylor over the years. He was a member of the Board of Regents for 18 years, serving as chair for two years, and is a past president of the Hankamer School of Business Alumni Board of Directors and a past director of the Baylor Alumni Association.

Wilkerson has also been involved in many civic and political activities in his hometown of Lubbock. He has served as the chair of the board for the Lubbock Board of City Development, a director of the Lubbock Lions Club, a director of the Lubbock County Appraisal District, and a founding director of Channel 40 Low Power TV station.

Currently, he remains the chair of the board of Wilkerson Storage Co. and actively pursues his interests in various investments.

Greater Waco Health Care Alliance seeks to maximize sector in community. - Waco Tribune-Herald (Waco, TX)

Byline: Cindy V. Culp

Nov. 1--The way to grow Waco's health-care industry is to identify diseases that have a large impact, then entice companies, which play a role in treating them, to offer services here, a consultant told local officials Tuesday.

For example, the Waco-area could be marketed as a good place for clinical trials of new health care products.

The presentation was made at a luncheon hosted by a newly formed group called the Greater Waco Health Care Alliance. It is a product of a master plan unveiled by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce a year ago that aims to improve everything from the area's business climate to race relations.

Part of the plan focuses on growing key business sectors and recommends that officials form community-wide alliances for those targeted industries. The health-care group got its start this summer, holding meetings with eight 'core' officials, but Tuesday was its official launch.

To get the alliance off to a good start, officials sought the help of consultant Richard Seline, CEO of a Washington, D.C.-based firm called New Economy Strategies. The company helps communities maximize their health-care sector, he said, and has found it requires getting everyone in the region involved, not just health-care entities.

Many communities have the 'ingredients' needed to expand, Seline said.

But they lack the recipe, or model, to carry it out. The good news for Waco, he said, is that it is open to new ideas -- and has the secret needed to carry them out.

'There is a spirit of cooperation here,' Seline said. 'This community has proven time and time again that it has a sense of civic pride.' The trouble with Waco's traditional model is that it views health care only in the context of local hospital systems and related players, Seline said. For growth to happen, all top employers need to get involved, he said.

One of the most effective tactics is to appeal to businesses' self-interest, Seline said. Under his model, the community would identify a few diseases of significance to area residents. That would be done by using government data, as well as input from businesses about diseases that most affect their bottom line through lost productivity and increased health-care costs.

Residents then would try to make connections with companies that serve people who have those conditions. One way to make inroads, Seline said, would be to market Waco as a place for clinical trials.

Waco can't compete for lab research, which is already established in larger cities, Seline said. But it could draw clinical trials.

Companies need large populations to test their treatments, he said, whether it's a new drug, device like a hearing aid or a program of lifestyle changes.

If Waco gets a reputation as a study site for a particular disease, many doors would open, Seline said. Besides new businesses, there also would be the potential for getting more government funding and money from philanthropists intent on finding cures for specific diseases, he said. Such wealthy donors are driving much of the innovation in health care, he said.

Officials leading the alliance said Seline's proposal is certainly new and different. Traditionally, development has come by recruiting companies that open a location here, immediately creating jobs, said chamber of commerce president and CEO Jim Vaughan.

But under Seline's model, businesses wouldn't relocate here right away, Vaughan said. They would simply perform trials and collect data.

If enough interest builds, though, new business activity would eventually follow, Vaughan said. For example, a health information company might come to help manage the trials or a lab might open to process samples.

Ultimately, those running the tests might open a location to tout their successful program, drug or device, he said.

Roland Goertz, executive director of Waco's Family Health Center and chairman of the alliance, said he hopes the proposal re-energizes local leaders. Whether or not the group decides to pursue the strategy, it at least gives everyone something concrete to consider, he said.

'You don't see this sort of gathering with this kind of focus very often in many communities,' Goertz said.

Other local health care leaders were excited about the proposal. Ron Lentsch, vice president and general manager of North American operations for Allergan, which has a location in Waco, said he agrees the city needs to find a niche.

Using clinical trials to do that makes sense, he said. His experience at Allergan has shown him that a wide array of businesses get involved with such projects, he said.

'It's a good way to start and then branch off,' he said.

Kent Keahey, president and CEO of Providence Healthcare Network, said he isn't sure whether Waco would be able to provide the volume of people needed for trials. But even if the idea doesn't work out, the fact that the alliance is trying to define health care broadly is promising, he said.

Keahey said he has long believed Waco could leverage its location on Interstate 35 to attract companies that sell or distribute health-related equipment.

But that won't happen if leaders think of health care only in terms of doctors or hospitals, he said.

To see more of the Waco Tribune-Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wacotrib.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business

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