UT System Regents Approve New UTEP Health Sciences Complex

EL PASO, TX. – Construction of a new health sciences complex for The University of Texas at El Paso was approved today by the UT System Board of Regents.

The new state-of-the-art facility will replace the existing College of Health Sciences building, an antiquated facility distantly located from the main UTEP campus.

The board allocated $50 million in bond proceeds from the Permanent University Fund (PUF) for the project, one of the largest allocations of such funds for UTEP. An additional $10 million in grants and private funds must be raised to complete construction of the facility – bringing the total cost of construction to $60 million.

“This facility will better serve UTEP’s College of Health Sciences and School of Nursing by providing a model environment for its students and faculty and accommodating the growth for prospective health professionals this region of the state so sorely needs,” said UT System Board of Regents Chairman James R. Huffines. “We believe this investment in UTEP will promote excellence and result in great dividends for the university community and the entire El Paso region.”

The proposed building will greatly improve UTEP’s capacity to address enrollment pressures in health sciences and the growing demand for health professions graduates; increase and upgrade space available for health-related research; improve access to main campus facilities and services; strengthen collaboration between faculty in the college of health sciences and other colleges within the institution; and accelerate the integration of the college into the heart of the campus community, UTEP President Diana Natalicio said.

“This marks the first step in addressing the increasing demand for highly skilled and trained health professionals for the El Paso region and we are extremely grateful for the support of the Board of Regents and the UT System,” Natalicio said. “We are also very pleased to have the support of several local business and civic leaders.”

The new building will be located on or contiguous to the main UTEP campus and near other major health-care facilities and will enable the largely undergraduate student population in the College of Health Sciences to attend classes, receive advising and faculty mentoring, and access university services available on the main campus, rather than commute to and from the current off-campus location. The existing facility, built in 1961, is outdated and inefficient given its distance from campus, Natalicio said.

The anticipated impact the new facility could have on the student population is dramatic. UTEP offers the only baccalaureate and graduate health professions degree programs in the Paso del Norte region. With high entry standards, student demand for these programs has increased significantly during the past several years. Health professionals with bilingual/bicultural skills are in high demand as health-care organizations seek to provide quality health care to an increasingly Hispanic population in Texas and beyond.

The El Paso region’s educational and employment areas are also benefiting from the aggressive faculty and student recruiting efforts by Texas Tech University and its growing medical education presence in the community.

Given the demand for state-of-the-art health-care facilities, the new building and expanded programs offered by UTEP’s College of Health Sciences and School of Nursing will augment the current faculty and student recruiting efforts by Texas Tech University . UTEP and Texas Tech already collaborate closely on several projects, and several UTEP faculty members hold adjunct appointments at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center at El Paso .

UTEP biomedical and health sciences faculty members and Texas Tech faculty have begun meeting on both the Texas Tech and UTEP campuses to become better acquainted with each others’ research programs and facilities, and to explore opportunities for possible research synergies on both UTEP and Texas Tech campuses, including coordination of scientific equipment acquisitions and joint pursuit of external funding.

UTEP officials are also exploring the possibility of leasing office space to expand collaboration opportunities for faculty and students at the Texas Tech facility, located in the Medical Center of the Americas .

“Any enhancement to health education at UTEP benefits Texas Tech through its ongoing collaboration with the university,” said L. Frederick “Rick” Francis, a former chairman and current member of the Texas Tech University System Board of regents. “We believe this new facility will add value to the clinical and research enterprises at both institutions while, at the same time, serve the health-care needs of the region.”

The Regents approved the allocation for the new UTEP complex as part of a $177.2 million initiative for 13 capital projects at several UT System institutions, largely funded by bond proceeds from the Permanent University Fund. The new capital projects will further the UT System’s global competitiveness efforts by positioning the institutions as some of the country’s leading research centers.