Harlingen Medical Center is celebrating its 20th year of providing care to the people of the Rio Grande Valley.
Located off the U.S. 83 frontage road in Harlingen, the medical center began as a collaborative effort between Dr. Hugo Blake and his partners at the physician-led hospital group known as MedCath Inc. The partnership had already built McAllen Heart Hospital six years earlier, and it was looking to build another cardiology-focused facility in Harlingen.
“We discovered that the Harlingen community was too small to build a pure cardiology hospital, which is what I wanted originally,” said Blake, who still serves on HMC’s governing board. “So, we decided to build a general, acute-care hospital. Twenty years ago, we did not feel the physicians had enough input into the administration of hospitals. We wanted to create a different culture, where physicians were important members of the decision-making process.”
HMC officially opened its doors on Oct. 2, 2002. The 112-bed hospital began by developing services in more than 20 medical specialties, all inpatient private suites, comprehensive clinical services, and a 24-hour emergency room.
Harlingen had been served by Valley Baptist Hospital since the 1920s, but Dr. Blake says HMC’s arrival on the scene was designed to be complementary rather than competitive.
“I and some of the other physicians here in town perceived that we needed an alternative in Harlingen,” Blake recalled. “That’s not to say we don’t love Valley Baptist. We actually love Valley Baptist. We have great relations with Valley Baptist, and we work hard together for the community.”
Harlingen Medical Center changed ownership to Prime Healthcare on Dec. 1, 2011. Prime Healthcare is an award-winning health system, operating 45 hospitals, and providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually in 14 states.
It is one of the nation’s leading health systems with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians dedicated to providing quality health care.
Most importantly, Prime Healthcare believes that “all healthcare is local.”
“Prime Healthcare is really a unique corporation,” said medical center CEO Candi Constantine-Castillo. “Historically, the focus has always been driven by quality. It’s evident by the multiple awards that this particular organization has received. We are a Leap Frog A hospital, which is the highest patient safety rating possible. We are a CMS 4-Star hospital with multiple accreditations and designations such as a certified primary stroke facility. We are a Level IV trauma care hospital as well as a primary chest pain center with PCI, so we’re really dedicated to quality. It’s the heart of what we do here.”
HMC marked another milestone in June 2017, when it expanded its emergency room from eight beds to 28. The $12 million investment included more than 20-treatment rooms, two trauma bays, two fast-track bays, pediatric and geriatric patient rooms, an isolation room, and triage rooms to provide quick assessment of patients. HMC’s emergency room currently holds a Level IV trauma designation.
“That expansion was very important,” said Blake. “Because when we built HMC, we didn’t calculate adequately what kind of ER load we were going to have. It has made a big difference, and I’m glad we did it, because when COVID came in a few years after the expansion I can only imagine if we had only three or four beds. It would have been in a mess.”
HMC is moving into the next 20 years by continuing to expand and improve its services. Details are coming soon on an ambitious remodeling of the HMC Women’s Center. The award-winning center celebrates more than 1,000 births each year, making it one of the premier choices for families to welcome their new babies.
“We’ve had our ups and downs over the last 20 years,” Blake reflected. “But I believe we have created a hospital that has been very well received in this community. I hope in the future we continue to expand services since the community requires it. We’re bringing more cardiologists because cardiology is very important to us. We want to keep expanding all our services and technology as it becomes available. That’s where I hope we go in the next 20 years.”
“I would just love to say thank you to the community for a beautiful 20 years,” said Constantine-Castillo. “We truly are honored to have served the people of this area for the past two decades, and we’re looking forward to a great next 20 years.”
