Ramirez, Mario E., 1926-

Dr. Mario E. Ramirez is a retired physician from Roma, Texas. As a young physician who returned to his home community to practice medicine, Dr. Mario E. Ramirez played a pivotal role in bringing formal health care to Starr County, Texas. Located in the western edge of the Rio Grande Valley, Starr County is bordered by Hidalgo County (McAllen) Jim Hogg County (Hebbronville) to the north, and Zapata County (Zapata) to the west. The Rio Grande River serves as its boundary with Mexico to the south.

Dr. Ramirez attended high school in Roma, Texas. He graduated in 1942 and enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin. In 1944, he accepted early enrollment to The University of Tennessee School of Medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1948. He then accepted a mixed residency appointment at Shreveport Charity Hospital and married Sarah Aycock, a student nurse at Shreveport Children’s Hospital in 1949.

In 1950, after the completion of his residency, Dr. Ramirez and his wife relocated to Roma to establish the first family practice clinic in the community. While practicing medicine in Roma, Dr. Ramirez elected to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. He and his family relocated to Tokyo, Japan where Dr. Ramirez would serve from 1955-1957.

Following his service in the Air Force, Dr. Ramirez and his family moved back to Roma. Soon after in August 1958, he opened the first hospital in Starr County to better serve the needs of the patients in his family practice clinic. Named after his grandfather, The Manuel Ramirez Memorial Clinic and Hospital operated until 1975. Physicians, surgeons and other specialists traveled to Roma on a regular basis to meet the needs of patients who could not travel to a larger city for health care. Previously, the only hospitals had been 55 miles to the east in McAllen or 90 miles to the west in Laredo.

In 1967 Dr. Ramirez, then the county’s Public Health Service Director, found himself leading the effort to aid nearly 14,000 refugees who had escaped flooding caused by Hurricane Beulah. Hurricane Beulah made landfall in the Rio Grande Valley as a major Category 3 hurricane that dumped record rainfall on the area. Dr. Ramirez and another physician cared for refugees for two days before outside help arrived. Shortly after, Dr. Ramirez received a special citation from the U.S. Surgeon General for his efforts to help his community recover from Hurricane Beulah.

In 1969 Dr. Ramirez was appointed to the position of Starr County Judge, a role he filled until 1978. As Starr County Judge, Dr. Ramirez was instrumental in managing the construction of a new, modern hospital, and helped to create a hospital taxation district to support its operation. On February 15, 1975, the day the Ramirez Hospital closed its doors in Roma, the Starr County Memorial Hospital opened in Rio Grande City.

During his career, Dr. Ramirez made it his goal to bring the needs of medically underserved Texans to the attention of several United States presidents and numerous state and federal medical organizations. Dr. Ramirez’s appointments and honors include president of Texas Medical Association (the first Hispanic to serve in this capacity), Family Doctor of the Year (announced by President Jimmy Carter), vice chairman of the Committee on Health Care of the Poor (American Medical Association), regent of the Military Medical School in Bethesda (an appointment by President Ronald Reagan), and regent of The University of Texas System (an appointment by Gov. Bill Clements) from 1989-1995 (UT Health Science Center News 2006).

Motivated by the professional isolation he experienced as a country doctor and the severe shortage of health professionals in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Ramirez proposed the creation of the Med-Ed Program during his tenure as UT Health Science Center Vice President for South Texas Programs. In the latter part of his career, Dr. Ramirez established and nurtured the Med-Ed Program. This program has inspired more than 2,200 students in the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo with the message that college and health science careers are attainable. In 2007 Dr. Ramirez celebrated his retirement from the UT Health Science Center, where Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, then President of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, spoke of the significance of Dr. Ramirez's contributions to the advancement of medical education in South Texas, calling him "one of the greatest heroes that Texas has produced."

Sources:

UT Health Science Center News February 21, 2006, and documents in the Ramirez Collection.

From the guide to the Mario E. Ramirez, M. D. Collection MS 25., 1960-2008, (The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, UTHSC Libraries, Mario E. Ramirez, M.D. Library, Harlingen, TX)