Galveston County Daily News, July 22, 2007 Editorial by Heber Taylor GALVESTON - The future of the University of Texas Medical Branch hinges on the cost of indigent care at its hospitals. It also hinges on whether people here are willing to offset that cost. That's the lesson we took home from the last legislative session. If you doubt that, consider this: The medical branch is a state institution. The state is not interested in covering recurring annual losses of $80 million for treating indigent patients who come mostly from Galveston and surrounding counties. When Galveston County's legislators ask for money for the medical branch, representatives from other parts of the state ask whether the local folks are paying their share. Parkland Hospital in Dallas has agreements with the University of Texas' Southwestern Medical Center. But Parkland has the support of a hospital district. Legislators in Dallas would like to know why their constituents are paying taxes to cover the costs of indigent care at their hospital, while people who live near the medical branch in Galveston do not. It's a good question. Galveston County leaders can take it seriously. Or they could ponder what the long, slow erosion of funding to the medical branch would do the medical branch, which is county's largest employer. We don't believe the state is going to move its oldest medical school from Galveston to Austin. It would cost more than $1 billion to rebuild what's here. But it's time to recognize that the state is not going to continue to underwrite recurring losses at hospital that draws heavily from a half dozen counties when other communities in the state are willing to assume a share. Austin has made no secret it wants a medical school. Some medical students who graduate from Galveston already spend some time training in Austin. Look for that trend to continue gradually if Galveston County can come up with a way to offset the state's losses on indigent care at the medical branch's main hospital. Look for that trend to continue rapidly if it can't. Galveston County's leaders have several options for addressing the problem. As we've said before, they should consider creating a hospital district to fund the area's fair share of the cost.