With only a few months left of her year as president of the Texas Medical As­so­ciation Alliance, Mia Price reflects on the passion that got her involved with the group.

In the past year, the group’s membership has grown and its involvement in medical advocacy has increased, Price said.

As president, Price has been doing a lot of traveling to attend medical-related forums and caucuses and speak to various groups.

But her traveling comes in spurts. Two weeks may go by when she has spent only two days at home, but the next week she could be free from traveling.

“I am very passionate about our organization and its members and the dedicated physicians we work with on their issues,” she said.

A Louisiana native who has found her home in Denton, Price has been a member of the state alliance for about 26 years.

“People here are the warmest, most welcoming people,” said Price

Her husband, Dr. David Price, was recruited here from Arkansas, where he was doing his residency.

The couple, married for 27 years, have lived in Denton for 26 of those years.

“A lot of the reason why I do this [be active in the alliance] is because I have so much respect for my husband and what he does,” Price said.

Since she hears from him his concerns about the future of health care, she said, she wants to help him and others in the profession.

The Austin-based alliance is a volunteer service organization, made up of physicians’ spouses — wives and husbands. As woman physicians increase in the health care profession, so do the number of male members in the alliance.

When Price’s term ends in May, Patrick Hearn of Wichita Falls, whose wife used to practice in Denton, is set to become the organization’s first male president.

The state alliance, with about 7,500 members, is part of the American Medical Association Alliance, which has about 23,804 members, said Price.

The state organization works with the Texas Medical Association, made up of physicians, which has about 43,000 members, she said.

“I think of us as health advocates for physicians and medicine,” Price said.

The state alliance works to push health care initiatives and influence the legislative process on health issues.

“Be Wise, Immunize” is one of its statewide initiatives aimed at the community. The initiative primarily targets children age 2 and younger, Price said, because it’s easy to ensure that school-age children have their shots, while the younger ones go under the radar.

The state alliance helps to make those shots available and free by working with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas Care Van and area schools and charity organizations, such as the Apple Tree Project, which provides economically disadvantaged students with clothes and school supplies.

Another statewide initiative is “Hard Hats for Little Heads,” which helps provide younger children with bicycle helmets.

They prefer the helmets to the shots, joked Price.

Texas’ alliance is pretty progressive, she said, adding that some initiatives that started in the state have spread nationwide through its parent organization.

She pointed to “Live & Then Give,” started several years ago, meant to spread the message about organ donations.

Money for these programs comes partly from the Texas Medical Association Foundation and partly from fundraisers put on by each county alliance.

County alliances have autonomy from the state level to choose which initiatives to focus on.

On the legislative end, the group helps advocate for health issues in the state, Price said.

On First Tuesdays, during the legislative session, physicians and their spouses meet with legislators to discuss medical concerns, helping clarify the issues with professional insight, said Price.

Their goal on the legislative end, she said, is to protect and preserve the medical profession and push health-focused legislation.

Statewide, the group supported Rep. Myra Crownover’s bill that would have banned smoking in the workplace, she said. That bill stalled in the state Senate.

The state medical association and its alliance were the driving forces behind getting Proposition 12 for medical tort reform passed, Price said.

The limited liability for health care practices, she said, has helped to bring money and physicians into Texas, and to provide health care where it was not before the reform.

On the national level, the alliance is focusing on averting possible Medicare cuts, which, Price said, financially hurts the physicians, as well as the patients.

The Denton County Medical Society Alliance, chartered by the state alliance, has about 70 to 80 members, said Price.

In addition to working on some statewide initiatives, Denton’s alliance works to support Denton Christian Preschool, Denton City County Day School, Riding Unlimited and “Grad Night” celebrations, among others, said Jackie Jackson, president of the county alliance.

Price is such a positive person to work with, she said.

“She is just so full of energy and ideas. But she’s a person who has ideas and puts them into practice,” said Jackson. “She’s just an asset and benefit to our community as a whole.”

AMY DODD THOMPSON can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is athompson@dentonrc.com .