During more than 15 years as a board member of the St. Mark’s Medical Center Foundation, Michael Corker has helped south Central Texas address the challenges facing rural health care. At a time when rural hospitals were closing, St. Mark’s opened in La Grange in 2005 and serves Fayette and Lee counties. The 100,000-square-foot, 65-bed facility, complete with specialty clinics, also is a member of Fayette Electric Cooperative.
“We can provide the same great level of health care found in major cities,” says Corker, a Fayette EC member.
Regional health care is Corker’s most demanding cause, but he has made his mark on the community in other ways, too. Gale Lincke, a Fayette EC board member and past chair of the Lower Colorado River Authority board, says, “Michael is kind, gentle and unassuming, and he does everything for the good of the community.”
La Grange businesswoman Linda Morrison has worked with Corker on the town’s historic Main Street program, as well as on other causes.
“He is just as committed to picking up trash on the median for a Rotary Club project as he is to raising money to build a hospital,” she said.
“He works hard for what he believes is right.”