Formed in 2016 by a group of like-minded Thomasian alumni, Texas Unified Society of Thomasians or TxUST is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a purpose to foster friendships and be a force for good. It is powered by a mission to spearhead medical and surgical missions. Two of its successful medical/surgical /dental missions include: Pangasinan (2017), and Cabanatuan City (2023), where thousands of financially disadvantaged patients have already benefited free services of the missions.
TxUST advocates for educational and professional advancement of its members and other colleagues. The group had gained major milestones by promoting health-related research studies. These include Project HEARTS, which is a study on hypertension education on low-income patients in the Philippines, and Project LabLABS Research on Hypertension Education. The group also organized an Anterior Hip Symposium for Dr. Stefan Kreutzer to The Philippine National Orthopedic Hospital. Local orthopedic surgeons were able to watch and learn innovative hip replacement techniques as performed by the esteemed surgeon on actual patients.
TxUST recognizes that education is the key to getting out of poverty. With this belief, it has committed to help change lives by taking part in the scholarship program established Bagong Silang Texas Foundation for poor but needy college students at Kalinga State University. TxUST is now a proud sponsor of two students, with plans to sponsor more students in the near future.
TxUST is involved in the local Houston community as well. TxUST members who are doctors and nurses have provided free consultations, screenings, referrals and administered flu vaccines during health fairs at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish and health fairs sponsored by Lions Clubs International. During the pandemic, TxUST held a public Covid 19 vaccination drive at StCecilia Parish.
TxUST can respond to disasters when needed. During Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, doctors and nurses from the group took turns in providing medical care and dispensing medications out of a temporary medical clinic in a local church that served as an evacuation center for displaced victims. Used furniture and other household items were also collected and donated to victims who homes sustained damage.
TxUST has had several successful fundraising activities to support its various charitable programs, most popular of which are the yearly Totally Awesome (retro) dance parties featuring celebrity DJ John Robinson.
This year, TxUST, in collaboration with KLaSS (Kabataang Pangarap ni Rizal of the Lone Star State), is producing Art for Art, which is a concert/fashion show in honor of mothers. Featured in this show are Iris Viacrusis, who is a well-known Filipino fashion designer based in Honolulu, Vicente ‘Enteng’ Evangelista, who is an award-winning theater actor/singer and a Thomasian himself, and other talented local artists in the Houston FilAm community.
Also this year, TxUST will send its medical mission to provide free surgical services at Eastern Visayas Medical Center, with patients coming from Leyte, Samar, and Biliran provinces. This mission will include other Houston-based nonprofits: SamarLeyte Texas, Houston Alliance of Volunteers in Medicine, and Lions Club International.
TxUST is involved in the events promoting Filipino culture such the Philippine Independence Day celebrations, and as one of the non-profit partners of One Philippines’ popular and well-attended yearly festival, Fiesta Ko Sa Texas in August this year.
Currently leading TxUST is its president, Dr. Grace Monroy. She is the fourth in the relatively short line of presidents beginning with its founding president Dr. Arnulfo Rosario, followed by Dr. Chymbeelyn Larisma, and Imelda Revote, RN, MSN, who have all set the bar high for the succeeding leaders of the organization.
Dr Monroy has been in active private practice since 1996 after getting certified by the American Board of Pediatrics following graduation from a three-year pediatric residency program at NYU Long Island-Winthrop Hospital in New York. She had worked as a pediatrician in Trinidad, Colorado and in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas before making Houston her home in 2006.
She passed the Philippine Medical Licensure Exams in 1991, obtained a certificate in occupational medicine in 1992, and practiced as a company physician before moving to the US in 1993 to pursue specialty training in pediatrics. She finished an internship in 1991 at Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City after obtaining her medical degree from the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in 1990. She graduated from her pre-med course in 1993 as part of UST’s BS Biology Accelerated class.
Dr. Monroy is from Manila, Philippines. She has been happily married for 25 years to Dr. Robert Salazar, a specialist in Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. They have been blessed with three wonderful children, Paolo (22), Katrina (21), and Therese (17) as well as numerous fur babies through the years.
Dr. Monroy has been an active member and officer of other Fil Am organizations such as Texas Association of Philippine Physicians, Samar Leyte Texas, and Kababaihang Rizalista, Inc. Please reach out to TxUST through Dr. Grace Monroy at gracemonroysalazar@hotmail.com.
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