Valley Regional Medical Center

11/19/2025

According to March of Dimes, about 1 in 10 babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. Yesterday, in honor of , we proudly lit our hospital purple to help raise awareness of the maternal and infant health crisis of preterm birth.

At our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, our dedicated team of neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, neonatal nurses, and respiratory therapists provide around-the-clock specialized care for premature and critically ill newborns. Designated by the Texas Department of Health Services, our advanced nursery is here 24/7 to support every little heartbeat.

Our labor and delivery teams are here to support your birthing journey every step of the way. To schedule an appointment with a physician and learn more about our services, visit https://valleyregionalmedicalcenter.com/service/labor-and-delivery

11/17/2025

Have you heard of ? They’re small areas of dense, rounded lung tissue that go undetected for most people, although they’re often found during imaging tests, like a CT-scan or an X-ray. While generally these nodules are not cancerous, the American Lung Association stresses the importance of getting them checked, as they could be an early sign of lung cancer.

You may have a higher risk of developing lung nodules if you’ve had any of the following:
🦠Bacterial or viral infections
🏭Exposure to air pollution
🫁Chronic inflammatory conditions
🚬Tobacco use
🎗️Cancer

If you think you may be at risk or if you’re having symptoms, talk with your doctor or schedule an appointment with one of our experts: https://bit.ly/3M7pLyY

11/13/2025

We were honored to recognize our Military Colleague Network, along with our veteran colleagues, patients and their families, for their service and sacrifice.

On this , we extend our deepest gratitude to all who have served our nation with courage and honor. Your commitment inspires us every day.

11/13/2025

new screening technologies can detect lung cancer at early stages – often before obvious symptoms like a persistent cough or hoarseness appear. Early detection saves lives. Across our broader HCA Healthcare system of care, the Sarah Cannon Cancer Network treats over 12,000 lung cancer cases annually, giving us deep insight into how early intervention can make all the difference.

You may qualify for lung cancer screening if you’re a current or former smoker, or if you have prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke. To learn more or if you’re experiencing any of the symptoms shown here, schedule an appointment with one of our experts: https://bit.ly/3LzSIDK

11/10/2025

Join us for our annual Diabetes Awareness Event on Tuesday, November 11th at the Sunrise Mall. The event is dedicated to raising awareness, providing education, and offering resources for individuals at risk for diabetes or those already diagnosed.

• 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
• Free blood glucose and blood pressure checks
• No fasting required
• First 30 attendees will receive a free glucometer
• Complimentary exercise bands for participants while supplies last
• Open to the public

Our Diabetes Management Center is proud to offer a nationally accredited diabetes education program, recognized by the American Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES). This accreditation ensures individuals living with diabetes in Brownsville and surrounding communities have access to high-quality, evidence-based education and support. Learn more: https://valleyregionalmedicalcenter.com/service/diabetes-management

11/06/2025

Expecting a baby?🤰Congratulations! During this exciting time, it’s important to understand pregnancy-related conditions that can affect your health, such as placenta accreta spectrum (PAS).

Watch as Dr. Robert Cohen, OB-GYN and medical director of the Placenta Accreta Program for our larger HCA Healthcare network, shares expert insight on PAS – a group of rare but serious complications that occur when the placenta doesn’t fully detach from the uterus after childbirth. PAS complications can include:

🔸Placenta accreta – the placenta attaches too firmly to the uterine wall.
🔸Placenta increta – the placenta grows deeper into the uterine wall.
🔸Placenta percreta – the placenta grows through the uterine wall.

If you experience any of these complications, our caregivers are ready to provide the treatment you need. Across HCA Healthcare, we care for more new families than any other health system, delivering more than 215,000 babies annually. We use data from these births to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. And for more than a decade, HCA Healthcare has partnered with March of Dimes to support the health of all moms and babies. Learn more about PAS from March of Dimes: short.url/aBcXyZ

11/05/2025

Considering home health or hospice care for a loved one? Our larger HCA Healthcare network offers Hospice & Family Care services, supporting patients and their loved ones at nearly 90 hospitals and their surrounding communities. Through these services, we provide care specifically tailored to meet the delicate needs of those facing a terminal illness who, rather than continuing to undergo curative treatment, would prefer to live comfortably and peacefully, surrounded by family and friends.

This National Home Care and Hospice Month, we’re honored to recognize the meaningful work of the nurses, therapists, aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers who serve our hospice and home health patients and their families. Thank you for providing patients with the physical, emotional and spiritual support they need, with the dignity and respect they deserve.

If you’re exploring home health or hospice services, see how we can help: https://bit.ly/3JuSNrF

11/04/2025

Every tiny heartbeat tells a mighty story. 💜

Each year, more than 200,000 babies are born in hospitals across our larger HCA Healthcare network – and some arrive earlier than expected. According to March of Dimes, about 1 in 10 babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. This means they enter the world before 37 weeks of pregnancy.

This , we’re celebrating our tiniest patients and the incredible caregivers who support them and their families. As a proud partner of March of Dimes, HCA Healthcare is committed to improving maternal and neonatal outcomes through clinical data, pioneering research and compassionate care.

11/03/2025

Here, and across our larger HCA Healthcare network, Imaging professionals are the image of excellence. During Imaging Technologies Week, we celebrate the incredible contributions of our colleagues. Imaging technologists are vital members of our care teams who ensure every image tells the story of a patient's journey. Every scan, every detail you capture, helps our clinical teams provide the accurate care our patients need.

To our Imaging technologists, thank you for choosing to be a part of our team, and for bringing your expertise and dedication to HCA Healthcare every day.

10/31/2025

from the courageous spirits of our tiniest babies.🎃

Within our system, we have seven NICUs spanning from Level II to Level IV, and a neonatal transport team, meaning that regardless of hospital of birth, we are able to get infants the care they need when they need it. From pirates to princesses, we're honored to help these trick or treaters celebrate their first Halloween.

10/30/2025

Yesterday, on World Stroke Day, we proudly hosted our Inaugural Stroke Symposium for healthcare professionals. We are deeply grateful to our expert presenters (Hamzah Saei, MD, Benedict Tan, MD, Luis Gaitan, MD, Sohum Desai, MD and Michelle Hairston, RN) who shared their insights on a range of critical topics, including:

• A Foundation for Excellence in Stroke Care
• Acute Ischemic Stroke: Strategies and Therapies
• To Treat or Not to Treat? Managing Mild and Rapidly Improving Stroke
• Stroke in Women During Pregnancy and Beyond: 2025 Update
• Acute Hemorrhagic Stroke: Advances in Intracranial and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Care

“We are honored and excited to help bring cutting-edge research and education to healthcare professionals in the Rio Grande Valley, highlighting the most advanced stroke treatment options available today,” said Dr. Hamzah M. Saei, vascular neurologist, neuroendovascular surgeon and neuroscience program director at Valley Regional Medical Center. “Thank you to everyone who joined us in advancing stroke care and awareness. Together, we’re building a stronger future for stroke prevention, treatment, and recovery.”

Accredited as a Primary Stroke Center, our neurological care team is comprised of 24/7 board-certified neuro-interventionalists, Stroke-certified nurses, specialty-trained neuro-intensive care team, on-site physical, occupational and speech therapists and a multimodality imaging team. To learn more about our Stroke care, visit: https://valleyregionalmedicalcenter.com/service/stroke-and-neurosciences

(Featured left to right on photo: Michelle Hairston, RN, Sohum Desai, MD, Benedict Tan, MD, Hamzah Saei, MD)

10/30/2025

We are proud to announce that several of our hospitals and our division office have been named among the Best Places to Work in Healthcare in 2025 by Modern Healthcare! This recognition identifies and honors 150 outstanding companies and organizations within the U.S. healthcare industry that excel in engaging their staff through flexible schedules, strong work-life balance practices, and community-building activities.

Congratulations to:

🎉HCA Houston Healthcare Pearland
🎉HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast
🎉HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball
🎉Texas Orthopedic Hospital

10/29/2025

With Houston’s record-setting population growth, the national nursing shortage has become a pressing local issue.

“At HCA Houston Healthcare, we are improving systems of care by advancing the future of nursing, right here in our city,” said Michelle Bookout, DNP, chief nursing executive for HCA Houston Healthcare. “This includes being proactive in addressing the growing nursing shortage by launching formal education programs to equip existing and future nurses with the skills they need to thrive in today’s dynamic healthcare landscape.”

Attracting nurses requires more than filling vacancies—it means creating an environment where they can grow and have influence.

10/28/2025

Are you feeling under the weather? 😷 can catch you by surprise but if your symptoms are mild, you may be able to treat them at home.

Taking over-the-counter medications, staying hydrated and getting plenty of sleep are trusted remedies that can help ease discomfort and support your recovery. 📲 Swipe to learn about simple home remedies that may help ease mild flu symptoms. These home remedies can also be effective in managing symptoms of other respiratory infections such as the common cold or mild cases of COVID-19.

If your symptoms become severe, see your doctor or call 911. You can also visit one of the 28 CareNow Urgent Care clinic locations across the Houston area. No appointment necessary. Find a location near you: https://bit.ly/4qw8UWr

10/28/2025

Are you feeling under the weather? 😷 can catch you by surprise but if your symptoms are mild, you may be able to treat them at home.

Taking over-the-counter medications, staying hydrated and getting plenty of sleep are trusted remedies that can help ease discomfort and support your recovery. 📲 Swipe to learn about simple home remedies that may help ease mild flu symptoms. These home remedies can also be effective in managing symptoms of other respiratory infections such as the common cold or mild cases of COVID-19.

If your symptoms become severe, see your doctor or call 911. You can also visit a CareNow Urgent Care clinic, which has over 220 locations across our larger HCA Healthcare network. Find a location near you: https://bit.ly/4oeRT1y

10/27/2025

None of your frights should involve injuries or illness. Planning ahead is a scary smart way to make sure your festivities are safe for everyone. Get tips on pumpkin carving, costume choices and more – all to help ensure your spooky season is free from unexpected health horrors: https://bit.ly/4ommNF2

Halloween is a popular holiday, but it can lead to injury and illness too. Here are some Halloween safety tips for kids and adults.

10/27/2025

None of your frights should involve injuries or illness. Planning ahead is a scary smart way to make sure your festivities are safe for everyone. Get tips on pumpkin carving, costume choices and more – all to help ensure your spooky season is free from unexpected health horrors: https://bit.ly/43mqAdp

10/26/2025

Trunk or Treat at the hospital!
Join us this Thursday from 5-7 PM in the hospital parking lot for a safe and spooky good time! Costumes encouraged for trunk-or-treaters of all ages. Free fun, candy and community spirit!

10/25/2025

? Nearly 1.2 million women in the U.S. give birth by cesarean section (C-section) each year – about one-third of all pregnancies, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

As a part of the American Medical Association’s What Doctors Wish Patients Knew™ series, Dr. Cindy Celnik, assistant national medical director of Women’s Services for our broader HCA Healthcare network, shares helpful insights about C-sections – from when they’re medically necessary to how advancements are making recovery smoother.

Across HCA Healthcare hospitals, enhanced surgical recovery (ESR) protocols are helping improve outcomes for C-section patients by promoting faster healing, shorter hospital stays and reducing opioid use – all through evidence-based care.

Learn more about C-sections and how HCA Healthcare is using data from more than 215,000 annual births to support healthier beginnings for moms and babies: https://bit.ly/4o4Drcd.

10/23/2025

While is often misperceived as a women’s disease, 1 in 726 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, says Dr. Ali Mazloom, a radiation oncologist with HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress.

"Most men don't think they can develop breast cancer," Dr. Mazloom notes. "So, when they get a nodule on their breast or start having signs that can be attributed to breast cancer, like ni**le discharge, they ignore it."

Learn more about the symptoms of breast cancer in men and the actions they need to take:

Visit the post for more.

10/20/2025

During , HCA Houston Healthcare and our larger HCA Healthcare network celebrate the critical role medical assistants (MAs) play in providing comprehensive patient care.

Utilizing knowledge in both clinical and administrative settings, MAs work alongside physicians, advanced practice providers and nurses to care for patients by taking patient histories and vital signs, preparing exam and procedure rooms, administering medications, and maintaining supplies and equipment for treatments.

Thank you to the MAs across HCA Healthcare for showing up for the patients and communities we serve.