DRAFT PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

November 1, 2007 

CONTACT: Terry Crocker, CEO
Tropical Texas Behavioral Health
956-289-7066
Tropical Texas Behavioral Health

National Health Service Corps Award of Excellence

Edinburg, TX - Tropical Texas Behavioral Health (TTBH) received the 2007 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Award of Excellence for its outstanding work toward providing much needed mental health services to the lower Rio Grande Valley community.  As the first Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) Center in the state of Texas, TTBH began as a small operation located in the basement of an old hospital building with a vision of effective treatment and recovery.  With that vision in mind, in the summer of 1967 with only six staff members and an enormous agenda for the citizens of the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, the Center opened its doors and began the provision of services.  Today, TTBH is the sixth largest of 39 community MHMR centers in Texas.  Through funding from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, TTBH implemented a Cultural Adaptation Initiative.  Through this initiative TTBH has modified and implemented specific, culturally sensitive evidence-based psychiatric practices to ensure the most efficient and effective clinical impact to TTBH’s primarily Hispanic client populations.  To improve the overall health wellness of the community, TTBH developed several health education and preventive programs, including an educational program for community “promotoras,” community workers who provide a bilingual liaison between health care providers and clients. 

The National Health Service Corps, a federally funded program, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service, established its annual Awards of Excellence in 2004, to acknowledge excellence in the provision of comprehensive and competent primary health care.  The NHSC, through its awards program, recognizes the combined efforts among site administrators, clinicians, and communities to improve the health of the Nation’s underserved. 

The NHSC partners with health care providers and clinics like TTBH, who are dedicated to providing primary health care to those who need it most.  This awards program allows health care facilities no matter how big or small to measure the past year of service, programs, and activities against criteria that reflect the NHSC’s mission and best practices in delivering primary health care to the underserved.