BYJOYCETSAI|STAFFWRITER
As the health care industry grapples with
ways to improve the quality of care at a lower
price, two urgent care clinics in the Metro-
plex are hoping to bring the savings of an
online eBay-style auction to medical service
customers.
NotunlikethediscounttravelWebsitePrice-
line, which enables people to bid for lower
prices for hotel rooms, Desoto-based EcCare
Health Centers kicked off its "Your Price"
online bidding program last week for its two
clinics, located in Desoto and Irving. It allows
NEWS
dallasbusinessjournal.com | Dallas Business Journal | July 3-9, 2009 3
AT DEADLINE
$30M on tap
for nursing
schools
Clinics let patients bid for own prices
BY JOYCE TSAI | STAFF WRITER
A new law will address the state's nurs-
ing shortage by providing $30 million of
new up-front funding to
increase enrollment at
nursing schools state-
wide.
The law, passed re-
cently during the regu-
lar session of the Texas
Legislature, also ear-
marked $5 million for
the University of Texas at Arlington for
a nursing simulation laboratory to train
nursing students.
Themeasureisconsideredabreakthrough
to deal with the ever-growing nursing short-
age because it is the biggest increase in
funding by the state to address the problem,
nursing experts said. The new funding is on
top of $14.7 million in the state's base budget
allotted to help nursing schools.
Advocates had sought $60 million to help
address the nursing shortage, but still see
the funding as a victory that will boost the
numbers of nurses in the state, said Clair
Jordan, executive director of the Texas
Nurses Association.
It was especially significant victory in
a tight budget year during recessionary
times, supporters of the bill said.
"This is record-breaking for us," said
Joan Clark, chief nurse for Texas Health
Resources, who was part of statewide coali-
tion rallying for the bill.
Turning away students
In 2008, Texas nursing schools turned
away more than 8,000 qualified nursing ap-
plicants primarily due to a shortage of qual-
ified faculty and available clinical space for
nurses to train, according to Texas Center
for Nursing Workforce Studies, a state entity
that gathers data on health professions.
Many local nursing schools are planning
to increase their enrollment by adding nurs-
ing faculty, staff and tutors.
UT Arlington will use $5 million from the
state to expand a nursing simulation lab
called the Smart Hospital. This will allow
the school to establish the UT Arlington
Regional Nursing Education Center, a pro-
gram that will double the number of under-
graduate nursing students from 400 to 800
by 2012, school officials said.
State funds could also help support en-
rollment initiatives at other North Texas
schools.
El Centro College in Dallas, for example,
is planning to increase its overall nursing
student enrollment at least 10% for the com-
ing school year and achieve a 20% increase
by fall 2010, said Joan Becker, director of
associate degree nursing program at El Cen-
tro College in Dallas.
El Centro currently has about 600 nursing
students.
Increases in enrollment and nursing fac-
ulty also are under consideration at Texas
Christian University, said Paulette Burns,
dean of the TCU's Harris College of Nurs-
ing & Health Sciences, though it's not yet
BOOSTING NUMBERS: Joan Becker, director of associate degree nursing program at El Centro College in Dallas, said the school is planning to increase its overall
nursing student enrollment at least 10% for the coming school year and by 20% for fall 2010.
JAKEDEAN
Money to stem statewide
shortage of faculty, nurses
EcCare auctions intended
to spur Saturday business
NURSES, P27
BID, P27
MetroPCS goes to court
A local supplier of wireless
phone service has sued an
East Coast firm that it claims
is selling accessories bearing
its brand without permission,
court documents say.
In documents filed in federal
district court in Dallas, Rich-
ardson-based MetroPCS Wire-
less Inc. claims that Hunting-
ton Valley, Pa.-based Wireless
Xcessories Group Inc. has been
peddling MetroPCS-branded
merchandise such as car char-
gers, protective shields for wire-
less devices and pouches to
MetroPCS-authorized dealers.
MetroPCS alleges that Wire-
less Xcessories has engaged in
federal and common-law trade-
mark infringement, among
other things.
Officials of MetroPCS de-
clined to comment, and Wireless
Xcessories could not be reached
for comment Wednesday.
-- Jeff Bounds
Extreme exposure
The June 27 Red Bull X-Fight-
ers freestyle motocross event at
the Fort Worth Stockyards was
expected to pump about $14 mil-
lion into the local economy, with
22,000 attendees spilling over
into area restaurants, shops and
hotels (see related item on page
11). It's the only U.S. stop on the
2009 tour, with other events in
Mexico City, Calgary, Madrid
and London.
Katie Nickles, director of mar-
keting at Stockyard Station, said
Austria-based Red Bull GmbH
rented about 20 acres of its land
to build the course -- the largest
on the tour.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Mon-
crief said The event's tourism
impact will extend into the fu-
ture, with a national television
broadcast set for July 19 on ABC
TV and myriad YouTube videos
already online.
"It's always exciting to be in
the international spotlight," he
said. "It was a unique and thrill-
ing event, and I was Cowtown-
proud to have everyone here."
-- Christine Perez
Calling all volunteers
TheVolunteerCenterof North
Texas is expanding the Collin
County event it held last year
to include Dallas and Tarrant
counties. More than 150 people
are expected to participate in
the event, now called the North
Texas Volunteer Challenge.
Held from 8 a.m. to noon on
July 11, the event will mobilize
employees at participating com-
panies to lend a helping hand to
more than 30 nonprofit organi-
zations and service projects.
More companies are involving
themselves in corporate volun-
teerism to boost morale in tough
economic times, said Vangie
Garza, the Volunteer Center's
director of corporate services.
See www.vcnt.org for more
details.
-- Joyce Tsai
COURTESYPHOTO
PRICED RIGHT: EcCare Health Centers, located in DeSoto and Irving,
are launching an online bidding name-your-own price program
for basic medical services during its Saturday clinic hours, with
potential savings to patients of 30% to 50%.

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