Texas Tidbits

Posted: 4/11/08

Texas Tidbits

Foundation seeks mini-grant requests. Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio is accepting mini-grant applications from nonprofit organizations in South Central Texas—including churches and church-based ministries—helping meet community health needs. The application deadline is noon on June 2. This year, the maximum grant is $7,500 for programs that serve residents in the foundation’s eight-county geographic area—Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson counties. For more information, visit www.bhfsa.org or call Eusebio Diaz at (210) 735-9009.

Valley Baptist earns national recognition. The emergency department at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville and outpatient radiology team at Valley Baptist-Harlingen each received a five-star customer-service award from Professional Research Consultants. The award is given annually by the national healthcare research firm to facilities that score in the top 10 percent nationally, based on patient ratings. The Brownsville inpatient nursing unit and Harlingen emergency department each earned a four-star award for overall quality of care.

Family establishes two endowments at HSU. The Skiles family recently established two endowment funds at Hardin-Simmons University—the Elwin K. Skiles Faculty Development Fund and the Win Skiles Memorial Speakers Endowment. Earnings from the faculty development fund—named for the 11th president of Hardin-Simmons University—will help enable faculty to participate in extended study, sabbaticals, research grants, lectureships and professional conferences. Earnings from the speakers endowment—named in memory of the HSU president’s son, an attorney and executive vice president at Texas Instruments—will be used to retain selected speakers in varied disciplines who will bring instructional, informational or inspiring messages to the campus.

Wayland trustees approve budget, tuition increase. Wayland Baptist University’s board of trustees approved a $49.7 million budget for 2008-2009 and a tuition increase. Undergraduate tuition will increase from $355 to $380 per semester hour in Plainview, from $170 to $185 at Wayland’s external campuses and from $250 to $265 for its virtual campuses and interactive televideo classes. Concurrent students—those attending while still in high school—will pay $15 more for a total of $115 per course in Plainview and $185 per course for external campuses.

Hendrick a ‘great workplace,’ Gallup says. Hendrick Health System in Abilene has been recognized with a Gallup Great Workplace award for the second year in a row. Hendrick was among 20 organizations worldwide receiving the designation. To receive the award, Hendrick participated in Gallup’s survey of employees around the world, which evaluates 12 criteria of engaged workforces using a 12-question survey. The Gallup Great Workplace Award is based on survey results and a best practices portfolio summarizing the steps the organization has taken to increase workforce engagement.