Pima Medical celebrates grand opening; looks to increase healthcare-related jobs in region

Borderland residents looking to enter the medical field now have another option.

Pima Medical Institute celebrated its grand opening Wednesday.

The school’s new building is located on Gateway East near I-10 and Hawkins. It’s in the old Saddle Blanket store.

School officials said they chose to expand into El Paso because of a need for medical specialized training.

“We found that El Paso had a real need for additional healthcare programs. We brought in a suite of programs that we felt were in need in El Paso,” Pima Medical Institute President Fred Freedman said. “We do labor market surveys. We meet with employers, to find out what the needs are of employers, and we match curriculum to the needs of those employers.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of healthcare support occupations increased from 7,990 in 2012 to 8,530 in 2016 in El Paso — an increase of 6.3-percent. Texas saw an increase of 13.6-percent during that same time period.

Pima Medical Institute does have some familiarity in El Paso. Back in 2014 after Anamarc College suddenly shut its doors, students were able to finish their schooling through Pima Medical Institute.

“El Paso was a community that we’ve been looking at for quite some time,” Freedman said. “We were asked to step in and train the Occupational Therapy Assistant students from a former Anamarc College. As a result of coming in and helping those students out, we found that El Paso had a real need for additional healthcare programs.”

The new campus is offering four associate degree programs: diagnostic medical sonography, occupational therapy assistant, radiography and veterinary technician.

“I want to work in a hospital, in an ER getting trauma (patients) start triaging and start working on patients,” student Manuel Avila said. “That’s what I would love to do.”