SEALY NEWS THE
Tigers start 7-on-7 football PAGE 8
Serving Sealy and Austin County since 1887 • Home of TJ Mills
Volume 127 Number 18
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014
A&M Club names scholarship winners PAGE 5 40 pages, $1
County Commissioner defends EMS proposal runoff Tempers rise at commissioners court on plan potential hospital takeover of EMS revised By JOE SOUTHERN
reporter@sealynews.com
By JOE SOUTHERN reporter@sealynews.com
Voting in the runoff election for Austin County judge and other state races has been expanded to include more times and areas through a plan adopted Monday by the Austin County Commissioners Court. Though only Republicans can vote
It wasn’t even on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the Austin County Commissioners Court, but a proposal by Bellville St. Joseph’s Health Center to take
control of operation of the county’s Emergency Medical Service (EMS) still caused some testy debate. During the public comment period at the start of the meeting, H.W. “Buddy” Koenig began reading a letter
he wrote in regard to the proposal, recounting how his life was saved last year by EMS when he suffered a heart attack. He praised the quick response by first responders and credited EMS with taking him to a Katy hospi-
tal. After recounting his story and profusely thanking all those involved, he turned his attention to Precinct 1 Commissioner Reese Turner – the lone proponent on the commissioners court for the proposed takeover – and challenged him to find other cost-cutting measures to help EMS
run more efficiently. “Reese, you say that Austin County is overspending by $300,000 a year. I agree that is a lot of money, but can you tell me how or where it can be cut?” he said. “If you can, take charge as a commissioner should and change the budget to ■ EMS, page 12
Burttschell Ranch a place for second chances By JOE SOUTHERN reporter@sealynews.com
■ ELECTION, page 12
NEWSBITS Winery ribbon cutting Yellow Brick Road Winery, located at 3587 Ward Bend Rd. in Sealy, is inviting the public to attend its ribbon cutting with the Sealy Chamber of Commerce. The event will be Friday, May 2, at 11 a.m. and includes a performance by owner and movie score composer Gerry Math and actress/singer Victoria Geil. The vineyard includes a piano bar and wine tasting room. It operates Fridays and Saturdays 5-11 p.m. Call (979) 216-8885 for more information.
Cinco de Mayo A Cinco de Mayo celebration is planned for Saturday, May 3, at Levine Park in Sealy from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be food, games and music and booths set up by Sealy YMCA, Child ID Program, Texas Children’s Hospital, Gulf Coast Blood Bank, Houston Food Bank Distribution and many more. For questions call (979) 8853113 or visit www. christian-city.net. ■ NEWSBITS, page 20
TODAY'SOBITUARIES ■ Joan Marusik
BIBLEQUOTE Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18
Thank a
Veteran and Serviceman everyday
If Burttschell Ranch is about anything it’s rebirth. Born out of the loss of a husband and father, the ranch is a place where old dogs and horses find new purpose after their former owners have put them out to pasture. “The thing about a dog or a horse is that they give you the same thing every time,” said Chad Hugo, husband of Burttschell Ranch founder Judi Burttschell. Burttschell Ranch is a 15-acre oasis on Hillboldt Road northwest of Sealy. It’s home to 17 horses and a dozen or so dogs, all rescued animals. Burttschell operates it ■ RANCH, page 15
The Sealy News/JOE SOUTHERN
Judi Burttschell saddles up one of her rescued horses to present it to a potential adopter. Burttschell runs a ranch near Sealy for rescued horses and dogs that she founded in memory of her late husband.
Relay for your loved ones By AMBER GONZALES editor@sealynews.com
Strap on your walking shoes and grab your family and friends, Relay for Life starts Saturday at 11 a.m. The annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society will be at Tiger Stadium this year with a new schedule to accommodate families. Rather than overnight, the event is now 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and there will be fun activities going on every hour. Most importantly, it’s a place that the community can go to remember and to show their support for the parents, children, relative or friend they’ve known who battle cancer. “Until I walked around and looked at all these luminaria bags, I had no idea how many families were affected here,” said Janice Wied, captain of Hugo’s Hotrods relay team.
The Sealy News/COURTESY PHOTO
Sisters Abianne Miller and JennaDee Detro own and operate Cat Spring Tea, featuring yaupon tea blends. There will be a tasting at Bliss in Sealy May 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Sealy News/AMBER GONZALES
Cancer survivors make the first lap at Brahma Stadium at last year's Relay for Life. This year's relay will be at Tiger Stadium, located on Highway 90 at Loop 350.
11 a.m. - Opening ceremony 11:30 a.m. - Survivor's lap 9 p.m. - Luminaria ceremony 10:45 p.m. - Closing ceremony
Home brewed: Tea movement steeped locally By AMBER GONZALES editor@sealynews.com
Relay is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society (ACS), but it’s also a place to bring awareness about all the resources that ACS provides, like helping to find and pay for treatment, infor-
mation for caregivers, Road to Recovery (rides to treatment), lodging programs and much more. This year’s Relay for Life is going to be different and packed full ■ RELAY, page 12
In what most people around here consider a weed, two sisters found something they want to make into a regional landmark. With tastes like apple pie and chai, Abianne Miller and JennaDee Detro have developed
an overlooked local resource with Cat Spring Tea. “It’s so durable and we have so much of it, there has to be something positive,” said Miller about the yaupon plant. “It tends to be pretty tenacious.” Yaupon, or ilex vomitoria, is an evergreen ■ YAUPON, page 15
The Sealy News • 193 Schmidt Road • P.O. Box 480 • Sealy, Texas 77474 • phone: (979) 885-3562 • fax: (979) 885-3564 • www.sealynews.com
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THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014 ■ PAGE 15
THE SEALY NEWS
TEA continued from Page 1 shrub that populates the south. It grows plentiful on land owned by the sisters’ family. Miller and Detro grew up in Houston, but spent weekends in Cat Spring, which the family has had for the past 20 years or so. Neither woman planned on going into the tea business. With backgrounds in public accounting and community development, and graphic design and photography, Miller and Detro had to do a lot of self-education. Detro played around with production, using trial and error to come up with a hybrid tea. After six-eight months they had come up with a version of black and green tea toasted and dried blends. Yaupon is the only North American plant that contains caffeine. It’s rich in antioxidants – almost as much as blueberries – and contains theobromine, which is also found in the cacao and kola nut. It’s what gives the tea drinker energy, but
without the jitter that more caffeine rich drinks have, said Miller. And it tastes good. “It’s light but it’s full of flavor,” said Bonnie Reay, owner of Bliss in Sealy. “It reminds me a lot of black tea, but there’s something more special about it.” Reay heard about the tea from a customer in Houston. The fact that it was from Sealy’s own backyard convinced her to order some for herself. Bliss will begin selling the tea at its location in downtown Sealy, starting with a tasting on Saturday, May 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We’re really looking forward to working with their company,” said Reay. But to get the tea to your cup, the sisters had to figure out how to brew something that hadn’t been made in years. There was no precedent for machinery or production. Research took them all the way back to native tribes who used the tea for ceremonies. There was not a lot information written down on yaupon tea production, but there was some oral history they learned from Native Americans. They even brought back the tradition for some cultures. The Muscogee (Creek) people used Cat Spring Tea at their national convention. And last month it was featured in the Illinois State Museum in its “Hot Science” series. Miller said the northern tribes got a hold of yaupon through trade up the Mississippi River. They would drink
copious amounts of this black tea for their ceremonies, which might have led to its Latin name – vomitoria, said Miller. But drinking copious amounts of anything can lead to that. At Cat Spring Tea, they have flavors like As American as Apple Pie, Stateside Chai and regular black and green tea blends. “It’s really good afternoon treat,” said Miller about having an iced As American as Apple Pie tea. They had their first big harvest last year and the main reason they believe yaupon can compete with imported teas is how it’s produced. Imported tea is never washed and can contain traces of pesticides and herbicides, said Miller. Cat Spring Tea is grown here and grown organically. It’s also produced in America by American labor, which is becoming more important as consumers become more conscious about where their tea comes
The loss of Michael was difficult, but he ranch gave purpose and hope. “It was a way to not grieve quite so much,” she said. Burttschell said the ranch serves to give purpose to the old and inspiration to the new. The horses come and go. Most are retired rodeo horses and others are abandoned or surrendered by owners who can no longer keep them. The dogs, mostly retrievers and similar breeds, come from all over to either live their remaining years on the ranch or to be cleaned up and given to a new home. “I rehab everything we get,” said Burttschell. Nearly two dozen people – mostly children – come to the ranch for riding lessons. Rather than charge a fee, Burttschell barters with them for feed. A lesson is $25 or two bags of horse feed or dog food, which cost about the same. “If they can’t afford it they can shovel stalls; they work for it,” she said. The children come from across the region, including Katy, Bay City and Bellville. She said the old rodeo horses are well trained and are perfect for teaching youngsters to ride or even compete in rodeos. “We’re not going to win NFR (National Finals Rodeo) but we’re going to have fun,” she
said. Burttschell said she runs the ranch for the joy it brings, not for profit. “I don’t do it for money. I have a job. This is my passion,” she said. When horses are sold, the price is low and essentially covers the cost of caring for the animal so she can afford to buy more hay and feed. She also boards horses to help supplement the income. “I’m not a 501c3 (nonprofit organization) but I am a 4-H Club,” she said. She said she is passionate about helping children discover there is more to life than school and video games. “I worry about kids not having a direction in life,” she said. The dogs are another story. She estimates the average age of her pack to be more than 10 years. “I don’t like to do puppies. I feel like everybody wants a puppy and nobody wants an older dog,” she said. Whenever a stray comes in it is cleaned up, spayed or neutered, given its shots and, most importantly, it's made to feel loved and wanted. Every living thing on Burttschell Ranch is loved and wanted. “When we get older … people don’t need to pack ’em away, we have a lot to offer,” said Hugo. The family has learned that when they
breathe new life into an older animal or invest time in a young child that the rewards are beyond measure. Hugo said it’s the simple things in life that make such a big difference in the life of the rescued animals and the people the animals help rescue. “We’re not an adoption agency or a rescue. What we are is an opportunity for a person who’s in a bad situation,” he said. He said as long as they enjoy the affection of an old dog or horse and the smile and confidence of a child, that they will keep doing what they do. “You can always give somebody your attention and it doesn’t cost you a thing,” he said.
Tasting at Bliss 124 Main St. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. from, Miller added. Once they develop best practices, they’ll begin expanding their harvest into the surrounding area. “We would love to work with local producers. Our region naturally sustains a very hardy yaupon,” said Miller. “We want to
make yaupon synonymous with this region of Texas.” Cat Spring Tea can be purchased online at www.catspringtea.com, Wild Woman, Wise Woman in Round Top, at Farmhouse Delivery, Stash Co. and Spec’s on Smith Street in Houston and several retailers in Austin. For more information on the tasting in Sealy, contact Bliss at (979) 885-6690.
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RANCH continued from Page 1 as a rescue for horses and dogs, but it is much more than that. She uses the horses to teach children – many of them underprivileged – how to ride. “These old rodeo horses are great to teach 6and 7-year-olds how to ride rodeo,” she said. She said horses saved her and her daughter, Boo Burttschell, when her husband Michael died suddenly in 2003 at the age of 47. She now calls on his memory to save old horses. “Without horses, I don’t know if we would have made it,” she said. She said Boo really struggled with Michael's passing. “Horses and dogs, without them I don’t think my daughter would have survived that,” she said. Boo Burttschell, 20, grew up on horseback, riding in rodeos every chance she got. “I sure … didn’t have the best horses, but we made do with what we had,” she said. Today she helps her mother and stepfather around the ranch and works for cutting horse trainer John Kirby in Brenham. When Burttschell married Hugo she chose to keep her late husband’s name as hers and named the ranch after him when she bought it. “The whole place is peaceful and provides so much joy in life for so many kids that I’m convinced he’s still here,” she said.
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AUSTIN COUNTY GO TEXAN
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! The Austin County Go Texan Committee would like to thank everyone that made the 2014 Austin County Go Texan Crawfish Boil and Scholarship Auction a huge success. Without your support, we would not be able to continue to give scholarships to the outstanding students of Austin County. Since the early 1970’s, the Austin County Go Texan Committee has given over $764,500 to our local youth. Thanks to our generous buyers: Wittenburg Printing Tim Fitch Cattleman’s Brenham Livestock Ty Keaton Washington County Go Texan Kathy Ignasiak Andy’s Wrecker Service Vince Ruffino Lifetime Foundation Brown Bros. Tire Advanced Compression James Pawlowski Chuck & Rita Scianna
Libby Weidner AIS Multi Source Shawn Marcella SOS Cookers Roy Schubert
The Austin County Go Texan Committee would like to give a special THANK YOU to the 2014 Event Sponsors: Corporate Level R4 Enterprises, LLC Bellville Lions Club
Platinum Level Gold Level Austin County State Bank Austin County Printing Buck Fergeson Originals Charles & Pat Balke Colonial Belle/Briarwood Manor/ J&S Well Service The Arbors of Bellville Jack’s Cook Shack First National Bank of Bellville Jim & Dorothy Grimes Industry State Bank KTEX 106 Lifetime Foundation Repair Positive Feed/The Inglish Family Mill Creek Custom Homes S&S Automotive Red Bluff Prarie Hunting Club Vincent & Rebecca Trahan Tegeler Chevrolet/Toyota
Silver Level Bellville Meat Market Eckermanns’ Meat Market SCS Construction/Creative Stitches Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Wendt Flooring
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SUPPORTING YOUTH • BENEFITING EDUCATION AMBASSADOR SHAWN JACKSON COMMITTEE MEMEBERS JOHN BURTTSCHELL JUSTIN HOLD MIKE MICHALKE JOHNNY SOUTHERLAND BUCKSHOT WIED KENNY CARTER RICKY HUFF TRAY MOSES BRUCE DITTERT ALLEN KAMINSKI TODD NEWMAN CLINT WILL KAREN GIEBEL CHAD LUEDKE MARSHA SIPTAK SENIOR MEMBERS CHARLES BALKE ALLEN ZWAHR LIFETIME MEMBERS HURST BARBEE STANLEY JACKSON VICE CHAIRMAN DON LUEDKE
SEALY NEWS THE
Check out Relay for Life photos PAGE 16
Serving Sealy and Austin County since 1887 • Home of Jamie Wallace
Volume 127 Number 19
Recycling bin back at News' office
By JOE SOUTHERN
Sealy AARP Sealy AARP Chapter 1505 will meet on May 8 at 11 a.m. at the Hill Community Center.
reporter@sealynews.com
At more than 2.5 miles above ground, the view is remarkably similar to what's on Google Maps. Exiting an airplane at that altitude, the ground zooms in seemingly as fast as a computer mouse can scroll in for a close-up. Rather than the silent glide on a computer monitor and the delayed focus, the world comes into rapid focus as the air whips noisily by at 120 miles an hour. A drogue chute eventually slows the speed to 60 mph, which is scantly noticeable in the thin, cold air. After falling from 14,000 feet to 6,000 feet in the span of a
minute, a cord is pulled, releasing a parachute and instantly enveloping its occupants in blissful tranquility for a gentle, six-minute descent to terra firma. That scene plays itself out dozens of times a day just southeast of Sealy at the Gloster Aerodome, a small grass airstrip where Westside Skydivers Houston is based. One of two skydiving companies serving the Houston area, Westside has been steadily growing in the last 17 months it has been open for business here. “It’s nothing like you see in the movies,” manager Austin Ely said while describing the skydiving experience. Everyone experiences a tan-
22 pages, $1
Early voting up in Sealy
Skydiving company soars over Sealy
The Sealy News has contracted with a new company to provide a recycling bin for paper in the parking lot of the office, located at 193 Schmidt Rd. The bin takes paper only, no cardboard please. Proceeds from the recycling go to HOAMeals on Wheels. For questions please call (979) 885-3562.
NEWSBITS
THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2014
Proposed city charter changes PAGE 6B
By JOE SOUTHERN reporter@sealynews.com
The numbers are in and early voting us up since last year in the Sealy municipal and Sealy Independent School District elections. As of Monday afternoon, with a day and a half left in early voting, the city had recorded 193 ballots and the Sealy ISD 220. That is up from last year when there were 170 city votes and
dem jump their first time, meaning they are strapped to an instructor. Anthony “Pinky” Gelleny, 24, is a certified tandem jump instructor for Westside. “I’ve wanted to jump since I was 16,” he said. On his 18th birthday – the minimum legal age to jump – his friends found excuses to bail out on him, but he forged ahead.
■ VOTING, page 7
■ SKYDIVING, page 10
Acting in Austin
Dinner theater The Sealy High School Theatre Department is holding a dinner theatre and silent auction on Thursday, May 8. They will be perform its championship play, “Mary Stuart” (still in competition on the UIL circuit). The dinner is by Ben’s Chuckwagon – chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and salad. Dinner and show is $12; dinner only is $9; and show only is $5. Dinner is 6-7:30 p.m. Show is at 8 p.m. Silent auction items include a Consuela Bag, Tiger Spirit items, a walk on role in the musical, autographed scripts and photos and reserved seats for next season’s shows.
The Sealy News/JOE SOUTHERN
Sealy High School (SHS) theater department is back at State UIL competition. The One-Act Play took first place last week in the regional competition in Corpus Christi and will compete in the state contest for the first time in four years. At left are Kelly Verm, Riley Hindahl and Sam Wilson rehearsing a scene of “Mary Stuart” at SHS on Monday. They will compete May 19 in Austin. See a picture of the whole team on page 2.
Bake Sale Trinity Lutheran Ladies Aid will have its annual Mother’s Day bake sale on Friday, May 9, starting at 9 a.m. at Citizens State Bank.
COUNTYJUGE
Candidates address EMS, Obamacare, budget process
TODAY'SOBITUARIES ■ Joseph Desgrange
BIBLEQUOTE There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
Thank a
Veteran and Serviceman everyday
The Sealy News/COURTESY PHOTO
Above are Sealy FFA members Clayton and Allison Schram, Jenna Hein and Austin Young. The team earned third at this year's state competition.
(NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series. The second part will run next week.) By JOE SOUTHERN
FFA places third in state On Saturday the Sealy FFA Livestock Judging team of Clayton Schram, Austin Young, Jenna Hein and Allison Schram took third place in state at the Texas FFA Career Development Event (CDE) contest at Texas A&M University. Sealy earned the opportunity to compete Saturday by advancing
through district and area contests. More than 600 FFA chapters fielded a Livestock judging team with approximately 2,400 students competing at the area levels to qualify for the state contest. The top 360 contestants representing 92 FFA chapters from across Texas qualified for the ■ FFA, page 8
reporter@sealynews.com
The two men locked in a runoff election for Austin County judge are in the final weeks of a long campaign. John Graham and Tim Lapham were the top two vote getters in the six-way March 4 Republican primary and are in a runoff election on May 27. The
winner will take the seat being vacated by retiring Austin County Judge Carolyn Bilski on Jan. 1, as there are no Democratic or Independent candidates for the November General Election. The Sealy News posed a series of questions to the two men. Their answers appear below and will conclude in ■ JUDGE, page 8
The Sealy News • 193 Schmidt Road • P.O. Box 480 • Sealy, Texas 77474 • phone: (979) 885-3562 • fax: (979) 885-3564 • www.sealynews.com
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PAGE 10 ■ THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2014
THE SEALY NEWS
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SKYDIVING continued from Page 1 “When I got the first time out of the way, I got addicted,” he said. He is now the veteran of more than 1,500 jumps, which is a small number in the industry. Westside owner Joe Johnson has leaped out of a perfectly good airplane more than 12,000 times. “In all honesty, it’s incredibly safe,” said Gelleny. Safety is the top priority at Westside. The second is to have fun – lots of fun. In as much time as the instructors spend going over safety
and procedures, they put an equal effort into making the event memorable with their enthusiasm and humor. Much of it is captured on video for those customers who desire the memento of the event. Tandem jumps account for most of the business. Johnson said they did 4,400 tandem jumps their first year in Sealy. He hopes to bring that number to 15,000. He said many try skydiving once just to say they did it. Others make it hobby. “For 18-year-olds, it’s
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a rite of passage,” said Johnson. “For the 50- to 70-year-olds, it’s their bucket list. For the 25to 40-year-olds, it’s something to do on a weekend.” He said while most instructors are male, the majority of customers – about 60 percent – are female. “Women trust people more easily than men do,” he said. Ely said it is not uncommon for someone to use skydiving as a means to a wedding proposal. Westside even keeps a “will you marry me” banner on hand for such occasions. “The girl jumps last so she can see the sign in the air around 1,000 feet,” he said. There are many reasons people take the risk and the plunge. Chelsia Collins of Houston recently celebrated her 30th birthday by taking a dive with her friend, Nicole Hayward. “It was on my bucket list and it’s my birthday,” she said. She said she wished she had done it earlier in life. “It was a rush and scary too,” she said. “One, we were in the air it was not scary anymore. It’s actually serene, peaceful.” Hayward agrees. “The initial jump was scary,” Hayward said. “The parachute thing was the best part.” Javier Ortiz, 38, of Odessa recently made his 18th jump and is on his way to earning his A class license. “I love it; you feel so free,” he said. Ely said the build-up to the big moment adds to the adventure. “That’s what it’s all about, the anticipation,” he said. Once a person is in the air, they are committed to the moment. “Once you jump there is no getting back into the airplane,” he said. “You just as well enjoy the ride.” Those who get hooked on the adrenaline rush can take steps to earn a license and increase their skills and thrills. There are four classes of skydiving licenses – A, B, C and D. An A license requires a minimum of 25 jumps and is a certification to jump
The Sealy News/JOE SOUTHERN
Above, Nicole Hayward of Houston and Tandem Master Phil Meyers touch down after a jump recently with Westside Skydivers Houston at the Gloster Aerodome near Sealy. On the front, Westside Skydivers Houston skydive instructor Mike Hodgman glides into the Gloser Aerodome after making a successful jump from 14,000 feet. at any facility, called a drop zone, in the country. D licenses are awarded to instructors. Those interested in doing solo jumps and getting an A license must first do two tandem jumps and take a ground course. It’s all part of the Accelerated Freefall Program offered at Westside Skydivers. “The first jump just gets your knees in the breeze,” Ely said. With each jump, more skills are learned. The more advanced the skydiver, the wider variety of aircraft they can jump from and the more they can do in the air. Students can learn to use wing suits and sky boards, do formation dives and more. Ely said the company currently has a Cessna Caravan that can carry 14 people and two Cessna 182s that can carry four people each. The runway at the airport was recently extended and Westside Skydivers is constructing a new hangar on the west end of the
main strip. It should be open in mid-summer. In addition to Westside Skydivers Houston, Johnson owns Westside Skydivers Minneapolis in Minnesota. The Minnesota operation started four years ago and the Sealy site opened in 2012. Johnson said the Houston market was ripe for a new skydiving company. He said the Minneapolis market of 3.5 million people is served by four companies. The Houston market of more than 6 million was served by two – one of which went out of business last year in Eagle Lake. “Houston has an independently strong economy compared to the rest of the country,” said Johnson. Johnson, 42, used to work for Qwest Communications, but found the lure of the skies too much to resist. “I just quit one day and never looked back,” he said. He holds the highest
ratings and can jump into ballparks and stadiums and often does so carrying the American or Texas flags. He has jumped in 10 different countries and had the distinction of being the first civilian to jump into Rice Stadium. “The sport’s been good to me,” he said. Places where people can parachute are referred to in the industry as drop zones. Sealy has one and the other is in Rosharon for Skydive Spaceland. There are only about 10 operating in Texas ,according to the U.S. Parachute Association. Learning to skydive can be expensive. The first tandem jump is about $200. The price can drop with successive jumps, depending on options taken by the student. Licensed skydivers with their own equipment can take a jump for about $20 to $25. To learn more, visit www.westsideskydivers.com or call 888-758JUMP.
Bellville St. Joseph names new lead administrator
Mother’s Day Gifts Galore
St. Joseph Health System has named Mark Riggins administrator of Bellville St. Joseph Health Center, effective May 12. Bellville St. Joseph is one of four St. Joseph Health System hospitals serving communities throughout the Brazos Valley, in addition to St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan. Riggins brings more than 14 years of healthcare management experience to the role, including 10 years with St. Joseph Health System, where he most recently served as operations director for St. Joseph Physician Associates. “Mark has a broad range of experience, with key strengths in organizational leadership and relationship building with patients, physicians and team members,” said Kathleen R. Krusie, MA, FACHE, St. Joseph Regional Health Center chief executive officer. Riggins was an integral member of the St. Joseph team that managed the transition of Bellville General
Hospital in 2013. “I am grateful to Dr. Don Bosse for his leadership during the transition to St. Joseph Health System. During that time I found Bellville employees, physicians and board members to be very welcoming to the St. Joseph team,” says Riggins. He is especially enthusiastic about the expansion of the Emergency Department. “Expanding the emergency department will be such an enhancement to the emergency medical services we currently offer to patients in the immediate community and surrounding area,” Riggins continues. Groundbreaking on the 3,500 square foot addition is expected this summer. Riggins graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Health, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Sam Houston State University. He is married and the father of three children.