Washington, D.C. — This week, President Trump signed the bipartisan Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2018 into law. Authored by Texans Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Chairman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) and Ranking Member Gene Green (D-TX), this law invests in our nation’s pediatric workforce to ensure that another generation of pediatricians will be equipped to care for America’s youngest patients.

This vital legislation to reauthorize the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program is named in honor of Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks – a trailblazing pediatric surgeon who was born in Lewisville, Texas a century ago. Dr. Brooks (1918-1998) was the first woman to become a pediatric surgeon in the state of Texas. In the span of her long career as a surgeon, researcher, and child advocate, Dr. Brooks also taught and trained many medical students, including Dr. Burgess.

“The bipartisan Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2018 will ensure that children in Texas and around the country continue to have access to highly-trained pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists,” said Dr. Burgess. “As one of her students, I am grateful that this law is named in honor of Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks – a trailblazing pediatric surgeon and Lewisville native. It is a fitting tribute to an outstanding surgeon, who I imagine would be glad to see her name on a law that will help another generation of physicians to excel. I also am grateful to my fellow Texan Rep. Gene Green for his work authoring this legislation with me, and to President Trump for helping to steward this vital reauthorization across the finish line.”

“A robust pediatric workforce is essential to ensuring that no child lacks access to high-quality medical care,” said Rep. Green. “CHGME recipient hospitals represent less than one percent of all hospitals, yet train half of all the nation’s pediatricians and pediatric specialists. Reauthorizing CHGME represents a commitment to ensuring that children throughout the country have access to the quality care they need. The current authorization will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, so it is important that we reauthorize this important program.”

“Texas is the fastest growing state in the nation, and young Texans need more physicians here to keep them healthy and well,” said Texas Medical Association President Douglas W. Curran, MD. “We salute Congressmen Burgess and Green for their work in passing the Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2018, and we thank President Trump for signing it into law. Research shows that physicians tend to set up practice where they complete their residency training, so this reauthorization will translate directly into more physicians for Texas.”

Full text of the law is available here.

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