Honorary Chairs of Celebrating Women have decades of service to Baylor
Peggy and Leonard Riggs Jr., M. D., are the honorary chairmen of the 18th annual Celebrating Women luncheon, to be held Thursday, October 26, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas.
“ We were hosting the Celebrating Women Kick-Off Tea at our home, and our friends said,‘ We’ d like you to be the honorary chairs,’” Peggy said.“ That’ s how it happened, and we felt very surprised and honored.”
“ We were so flattered,” said Dr. Riggs.“ I assure you we don’ t deserve it ─ but we greatly appreciate it. It’ s an honor.”
While the Riggses have supported Celebrating Women and Baylor Health Care System Foundation in countless ways for decades, their name is, quite literally, synonymous with emergency care at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. The Emergency Department bears their name, for good reason.
Dr. Riggs became the first physician to work full time in the“ emergency room”( as it was called then) at Baylor Dallas. During that time, ERs were not staffed with fulltime physicians.
“ Doctors were on call and would be in their office or in the operating room, and the nurses were down in the ER by themselves, and they’ d try to figure out what was wrong with the patient,” Dr. Riggs said.“ Then the nurse would run over to the call list to get the doctor to come in to see the patient. It took hours sometimes to get somebody there.”
In the early 1970s, Dr. Riggs, a Texas native, had just finished his residency in Memphis, Tennessee. This was followed by a six-month hiatus before his deployment with the Navy to Vietnam. He’ d always enjoyed working in ERs as a medical school student, so after he returned from Vietnam, he called Baylor Dallas and asked if they needed a physician for their emergency room. They gladly accepted his offer.
He and a fellow physician would coordinate their shifts during weekdays so that a physician was always available. Residents would moonlight in the ER on weekends.
When his deployment ended in 1972, Dr. Riggs returned to the Baylor Dallas Emergency Department and served as director of emergency medicine from 1974 to 1998. He was a founding member of the Foundation in 1978, and both he and his wife, Peggy, have been actively involved ever since. Dr. Riggs became chairman of the Foundation board in 2006, helping the Foundation raise more than $ 100 million in his four years at the helm.
One of the highlights of Dr. Riggs’ time as chairman was the campaign to renovate and expand the emergency department at Baylor Dallas. The renovation more than doubled Baylor Dallas’ capacity to treat patients requiring urgent and trauma care. Dr. Riggs and Peggy were so instrumental in raising more than $ 11 million for the project and recruiting the support of dozens of friends, the ED was renamed the Riggs Emergency Department in recognition of their efforts.
Since hosting the Celebrating Women Kick-Off Tea earlier this year, the Riggses have been looking forward to the event.
“ Celebrating Women is a shining example of bringing awareness to breast cancer and letting patients know that there is an extraordinary level of care available to them locally,” Dr. Riggs said.“ It lets the families of North Texas know that Baylor is working hard and making tremendous strides in diagnosis, treatment and research. It’ s just a wonderful event, and Peggy and I are honored to serve as this year’ s honorary chairs.”
For more information about underwriting opportunities and tickets to Celebrating Women, call 214.820.4500 or email CelebratingWomen @ BSWHealth. org. Sponsorship and underwriting opportunities are available; individual tickets start at $ 250 and table prices start at $ 2,500.
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