More detail on this person: Michael Edward
Bruce, the soft-spoken leader credited for
reinvigorating the A.G. Holley State Hospital's
mission to fight tuberculosis, died of a heart
attack at age 46 Monday.
As superintendent of the nation's last
free-standing tuberculosis hospital since 1992,
Mr. Bruce championed the idea of finding social as
well as medical solutions for A.G. Holley's
patients.
''Mike was the driving force behind what was going
on here,'' said Dr. David Ashkin, director of
medical services.
He was a calm man who could explain the
disease's resurgence because of AIDS and
immigration from developing countries with high
tuberculosis rates.
Under his leadership, the hospital started
counseling patients on their lifestyles, showing
them how to take better care of themselves.
State legislators were ready to close A.G. Holley
the year before Mr. Bruce was hired. The state is
now renovating the hospital, which opened in 1950,
and officials have approved money for more
patients and research.
Mr. Bruce also was the point man for the state
Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services,
which runs the hospital, when neighbors
complained about juvenile justice programs on its
160-acre campus.
Although the issue is still not settled, residents
at the time credited him for being more honest
than others had been.
A West Point graduate with a master's degree in
social work from the University of Texas, Mr.
Bruce was hired as an HRS district manager in
1988. He had previously worked for the Texas
Department of Human Services.
Monday, staff at A.G. Holley were shocked by the
death of the man who eschewed junk food and
jogged in the mornings at his Wellington home.
''Everyone liked him,'' said Carolyn Weir,
director of medical records. ''I never saw him
lose his temper and we had some tough patients.''
Said Ashkin: ''He made everybody - the staff and
the patients - feel that we were in this
together.''
Mr. Bruce is survived by his wife, Beverly Black,
and two children. Funeral arrangements are
incomplete.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 11/02/2023
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