Hospital Name Change To Reflect Dynamic Change In Mission
By Martin Bartlett
EL PASO — As R.E. Thomason Hospital’s relationships with the county and Texas Tech University change, residents will soon find thefacility going by a different name..
“University Hospital” or “University Medical Center” are some of the new names residents will have to adjust to when thinking of Thomason Hospital over the course of the new year, ABC 7 has learned.
Leaders with the trauma center say the name change will help to emphasize the teaching role that the hospital plays for the community it serves. They say the “general hospital” moniker only indicates Thomason as a provider for indigent care and trauma, which is no longerthe case.
Though these missions will not be abandoned by the hospital, making the change in the eyes of the people will help to highlight the role Thomason plays in the Paul Foster School of Medicine as an institution for learning.
Additionally, they say, the change will place the hospital on par with other cities in the Southwest with major teaching hospitals such as Albuquerque and Tucson.
Hospital district board member Veronica Escobar said the change is necessary and imperative to the image the hospital wants to project.
“It’s outgrown its name, it’s a dated name. We certainly want to keep the name Thomason, but since it’s functioning more like a university medical center, that’s the name it will start to go by very soon,” Escobar said.
Texas Tech University Dean of MedicineManuel de la Rosa agreed. “It’s not just a name change, but it’s a cultural change that needs to occur at Thomason. If Thomason and Texas Tech are to become an academic health center, it’s due and it’s appropriate,” he said.
