East Texas leaders discuss bringing small town healthcare into modern era

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Bringing small town healthcare into the modern era was the goal Wednesday as Senator John Cornyn and Congressman Nathaniel Moran visited the UT Tyler Health Science Center.

They met with healthcare workers, educators, and community leaders from East Texas as the $50 billion push to advance health care in rural Texas communities was discussed.

It’s no secret that getting crucial health care in parts of East Texas can be a hassle.

Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison knows this all too well.

“We desperately need doctors and we desperately need a facility,” says Harbison.

The people in the county she serves have to drive at least an hour to go to a hospital.

“We’ve also lost the hospital in San Augustine County, which is just down the road,” says Harbison.

At Wednesday’s roundtable with U.S Senator John Cornyn and Congressman Nathaniel Moran, she and many others were informed about the push to bring small town healthcare up to speed.

“We all know that access to health care in rural Texas is really a concern,” says Cornyn.

The Rural Health Transformation Program is how they’re addressing the need. It’s part of the “one big beautiful bill.”

“This is a $50 billion program to help rural hospitals, clinics, and providers in East Texas and around our state and around the nation. to modernize our health systems and provide access to health care,” says Cornyn.

Texas received over $281 million for 2026— and over the next five years, Texas is expected to receive about $1.4 billion total.

“Texans in every corner of the state deserve access to quality healthcare,” says Cornyn.

Since 2015, 14 hospitals in Texas have closed, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. In East Texas, 14 counties have only one hospital, and six counties have none at all.

“The $281 million is going to be competitively given out through the state of Texas to go out to great ideas to say, ‘hey, here’s a desert’,” says Moran.

Luke Schwartz, a third year medical student at UT Tyler, is hoping this five-year investment will definitely reciprocate for generations to come.

“For those of us who grew up here, the goal isn’t just to practice medicine, it’s to give back to the communities that got us to where we are today.”

When it comes to dispersing money, they say they’re still in the early stages. The funding will be divided across different initiatives, and organizations will be able to apply for support.