Dr. Adrian Billings from the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, encouraging federal programs that will entice young doctors to work in rural America.
TTU Health Sciences Center President, Dr. Tedd Mitchell said there are thousands of families across the South Plains who have to go through great lengths to have a simple doctors visit. He said out of 108 counties the center is responsible for, only 32 of those counties have a hospital.
“If you look at death rates from cancer you can basically draw a line down I-35 in the state of Texas, and folks in West Texas tend to die more from cancer than they do in East Texas and it’s because they tend to be diagnosed at a later stage,” Mitchell said.
The center is also working to bring attention to how much these communities do for the rest of the nation and why their health is so important.
“The people that we are trying to preserve in these smaller towns, they are providing the food fiber and fuel for everybody,” Mitchell said.
