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Arthur "Tim" Garson Jr.

Director, Health Policy Institute, Texas Medical Center

Arthur Garson Jr., MD, MPH is the director of the Health Policy Institute at the Texas Medical Center, Houston. Before that he has been provost of the University of Virginia, dean for academic operations at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Latest Columns

Patients need to know what a true emergency is before going to the ER

At least one out of every three patients who visit an emergency room does not have a true emergency. As a result, ERs become overcrowded, physicians have difficulty seeing patients with real emergencies quickly, and hospitals can become so clogged that ambulances must be diverted, potentially leading to deaths. Moreover, unnecessary overuse of the ER is a contributor to soaring health care costs.