Historical Archive

The 61st Texas Legislature creates the Texas Tech University School of Medicine as a regional institution with campuses to be developed in Lubbock, El Paso, Amarillo, and Odessa.

The objectives of creating the School of Medicine were to provide quality medical education, to address problems of health care delivery in rural areas, and to develop education programs throughout West Texas emphasizing primary health care.

Judson Williams, TTU Regent, makes motion to establish El Paso as a Regional Academic Health Center for the Texas Tech School of Medicine.

First employee Maria Elena Acevedo Flood is hired at Texas Tech.

El Paso surgeon Ariel Rodriguez, M.D., is named first associate dean for the El Paso campus.

Family Medicine residency begins.

H. Robert Misenhimer, M.D., associate chairman of the department of OB/GYN is named associate dean.

The Texas Tech University Regional Academic Health Center building is dedicated. Anesthesiology and Psychiatry residency programs begin.

Yvonne Carrillo is hired as the first nurse at Texas Tech.

El Paso faculty assume medical directorship and training program for El Paso Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Surgery residency program begins.

Emergency Medicine residency begins as Texas' first and only civilian program of its kind until 1992.

Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Office opens to develop health profession education coordination across West Texas.

Donald Kettlekamp, M.D., is named associate dean and assistant to the vice president.

El Paso pathologist William Gordon McGee, M.D., is appointed to the Texas Tech Board of Regents.

TTUHSC assumes operation of the outpatient clinics formerly managed by Thomason Hospital, removing them from the county hospital district.

Amalgamated orthopaedic surgery residency combining programs at Texas Tech and William Beaumont Army Medical Center begins.

Construction on Texas Tech Medical Center begins.

Joseph Brown III, M.D., formerly associate dean for pediatrics, is named associate dean and assistant to the vice president and provost.

Texas Tech Medical Center opens for outpatient care.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation funds bi-national education program.

Coordinating board approves cooperative MSN certified Nurse-Midwifery education program between UTEP and Texas Tech, the first in the state of Texas.

West Region offices of the Health Education and Training Center Alliance of Texas open.

Kellogg Community Partnership grant is awarded.

University Breast Care Center launches fund-raising campaign for clinic to combat high prevalence of advanced cases of breast disease.

TTUHSC is designated National Hispanic Center of Excellence by Hispanic Honor Society.

State increases number of first-year entering medical students at Texas Tech School of Medicine from 100 to 120, with all 20 additional students destined to El Paso for third-and-fourth-year clinical training.

Gary W. Welch, M.D., regional chair of anesthesiology, is named regional dean.

UBCC Mobile Mammography Van begins providing education and screening to underserved women of El Paso.

Robert Brown, El Paso businessman, is appointed to the Texas Tech Board of Regents.

Students from Maxine Silva Magnet High School for Health Professions begin clinical rotations as observers in the Texas Tech Medical Center clinics.

State Senator John T. Montford is named Chancellor of Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, a position newly created by the Texas Tech Board of Regents.

Former State Commissioner of Health David R. Smith is named President of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

TTUHSC's Department of Pediatrics becomes affiliated with the Children's Miracle Network, and initiates the Always Kids Miracle Hotline, (532-KIDS).

Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., TTUHSC assistant dean for graduate medical education, is named regional dean.

The Texas Tech/Thomason joint trauma program receives Level II designation, the highest recognized level of trauma care available in the region.

Texas Tech Physician Associates (TTPA) opens clinics on East, West, Northeast, Central and Maxwell.

Texas Tech celebrates 25 years of caring for El Paso with a 25th Anniversary Gala.

Texas Tech Chancellor John T. Montford shares with the Texas Tech Board of Regents the vision for a full fledged four-year medical school in El Paso.

TTUHSC at El Paso is designated a Mother-Friendly Worksite by the Texas Department of Health as a company that provides new mothers returning to work a quiet area to breastfeed.

Texas Tech hosts dedication ceremonies for the renaming of its Medical Library to the Delia Montes-Gallo Library of Health Sciences Center in honor of long-time Texas Tech pediatrician Dr. Montes-Gallo.

Oscar Noriega, M.D., assistant professor and director of Telemedicine in the department of Family Medicine, is recognized as one of 47 physicians nationwide selected by medical students for the 2000 Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Humanism in Medicine Award.

The Teledoc Telemedicine network debuts at Texas Tech Family Practice Center in Northeast El Paso. The El Paso campus implements the telemedicine network into the far West Texas and upper Rio Grande border region to enhance health care access for citizens.

The Montwood Wellness Center, a joint Texas Tech/Socorro Independent School District venture, opens at Montwood High School to care for children, birth to 18, in the Montwood feeder area, regardless of family income.

The Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Public Health Service announces a $2.4 million, three-year award to the Office of Border Health at TTUHSC at El Paso, under the direction of Darryl Williams, M.D, to establish a Hispanic Center of Excellence.

A land donation of 10.7 acres by El Paso businessman and philanthropist J.O. and Marlene Stewart gives TTUHSC at El Paso room to grow, moving it closer to becoming a full, four-year medical school.

During the 77th Texas Legislative Session, funds are appropriated for research at the El Paso campus in three areas: $40 million to fund a clinical research center; $1.3 million a year (3 million per biennium) to fund the medical program for support of medical research; and $300,000 a year ($600,000 per biennium) to support a Diabetes Research Center.

TTUHSC at El Paso leads the way to become smoke-free indoors and out, in an effort to promote good health.

TTUHSC President David Smith, M.D., is appointed Chancellor of Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

A Telemedicine Burn Clinic in the department of surgery opens, allowing El Paso area burn patients to receive follow-up treatment over television from Lubbock.

Paso del Norte Health Foundation announces a $1.25 million scholarship/grant loan program for Texas Tech at El Paso students choosing to practice in El Paso.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso celebrates its 30-year anniversary with a "Pearls and Wisdom" gala.

Texas Governor Rick Perry visits TTUHSC at El Paso for a ceremonial signing of House Bill 28, article 10, which authorizes Texas Tech to issue $45 million in tuition revenue bonds for the construction of a classroom/office building for a four-year medical school at the El Paso campus. The governor also announces an additional $2 million in funding to finance start-up costs and faculty salaries.

A groundbreaking ceremony takes place for Medical Science Building I, one of three buildings on the new campus.

Regional Dean Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., is appointed by President George W. Bush to the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, recognizing TTUHSC at El Paso as a national leader in border health issues.

Internationally recognized physician and scholar M. Roy Wilson, M.D., M.S., is named President of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. President Wilson formerly served as dean of the school of medicine and vice president for health sciences for Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

At a cost of about $11 million, construction of an additional third floor begins on the Texas Tech Medical Center building. The project adds approximately 43,000 square feet of new space and a new 100-seat auditorium.

Eighteen TTUHSC at El Paso faculty graduate from the first Faculty Development Course.

Texas Speaker of the House Tom Craddick visits the El Paso campus and views ongoing construction of Medical Science Building I, the foundation of the Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine.

The first Faculty Recognition Banquet "Treasures of Texas Tech" is held at the El Paso Country Club. The banquet recognizes new faculty, newly board certified, newly promoted and faculty of the year.

An in-house recruitment service through the Faculty Services Department for all clinical faculty vacancies at the El Paso campus begins. The new service streamlines the faculty appointment process and shortens the timeline in filling open faculty positions.

El Paso businessman L. F. "Rick" Francis, is appointed chairman of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents.

In September, El Paso's Medical Science Building I—the cornerstone to El Paso's medical school—was celebrated at a Topping Out ceremony. At this ceremony, the placement of the symbolic "top beam" was set into place after construction workers and area dignitaries signed the beam.

Shriners Hospital for Children and TTUHSC at El Paso celebrate 25 years of outreach clinics in Juarez, Mexico during a recognition celebration in Juarez. The clinics have been held four times a year for the past 25 years and approximately 20,000 children from cities, towns and ranches across the state of Chihuahua have been screened for complex orthopaedic problems.

Eleven TTUHSC at El Paso physicians make the list of El Paso's Best Doctors, a list derived from a national poll of more than 30,000 physicians in 40 different specialty areas.

The Infinity Campaign for the four-year medical school kicks off with the quest to help fund the first four-year medical school on a U.S. border. The Infinity Campaign is set to raise $25 million over the next two years.

Woody L. Hunt, chairman and CEO of Hunt ELP, Ltd., and affiliated companies, and Marcus J. Hunt, President of the Cimarron Foundation, pledge $1.5 million to Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine.

Sierra Providence Health Network donates $480,000 to Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine to support Texas Tech's residency programs, and for the establishment of the four-year medical school to help alleviated the shortage of healthcare workers in El Paso.

International Outsourcing Services (IOS), a local El Paso company, donates $500,000 to Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine for its four-year medical school campaign.

Western Refining, an El Paso-based company which supplies fuel to El Paso, Juarez, Tucson, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and other southwestern cities, donates $500,000 to Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine for its four-year medical school campaign.

El Paso Electric gives El Paso's four-year medical school a $5 million gift to keep it growing.

Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine was one of eight U.S. medical schools awarded a grant by the AAMC/Pfizer Medical Humanities initiative to develop and expand student community service programs.

The Health Education Training Centers Alliance of Texas-West Region and Texas Tech University HSC Division of Emergency Medical Services, provides a Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS) instructor course and provider course in Chihuahua, Mexico. The course is the first step in developing a core of emergency care instructors for BTLS and establishing a BTLS International Chapter, the first in the state of Chihuahua.

Governor Rick Perry proposes $38.5 million under a budget proposal for the four-year Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine during the end of the legislature's second special session. The governor and a majority of the Legislative Budget Board members must approve the spending proposal. If the money is appropriated, Texas Tech officials expect to have about 80 students enroll by the fall of 2008.

A groundbreaking ceremony is held for the medical education building of the four-year Texas Tech El Paso School of Medicine. The classroom building is approximately 125,000 square feet and costs roughly $45 million. Four floors, with about 32,000 square foot per floor, will be built and completed in about two years. First and second-year students can look forward to a student services area, a courtyard, food services, classrooms, a library, an evaluation area, small group rooms, a clinical skills area, a simulation room, and basic science labs. A gross anatomy lab will be on the fourth floor.

Ribbon cutting ceremonies take place for Medical Science Building I (MSB I), a research facility with studies revolving around diabetes, infectious diseases, and environmental health issues. Equipment, research staff and principal investigators (PI) move to the new building. The building features a vivarium on the first floor, four animal holding rooms, cleaning area, chemical storage areas and a veterinarian's office. PI offices and labs are located on the second floor, as well as a genomics and proteomics core facility. Basic and clinician scientists, actively engaged in bench research, as well as residents and medical students involved in basic/clinical research will have access to the research labs.

As the only medical school located on the international border with Mexico, issues such as diabetes prevention, environmental health, Hispanic health, infectious and re-emergent diseases, geriatric medicine, and telemedicine will be overriding interests.

Rotary Clubs of El Paso present a check for $70,000 for the new El Paso School of Medicine. The money were the proceeds of the seven Rotary clubs annual Celebrity chef event.

A Topping Out Ceremony is held for the Medical Education Building. A beam signed by construction workers and area dignitaries, as well as a small evergreen tree, was raised to the top of the structure.

Texas Tech University School of Medicine is awarded a grant of nearly $2 million from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954. TTU School of Medicine is one of ten medical schools to receive this prestigious training grant. Forty-eight academic health centers applied. The grant will go towards training physicians in geriatrics.

The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents officially names Kent Hance as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. A graduate of Texas Tech, Hance says his focus will be on fundraising for scholarships, professorships and endowments as well as capital contributions. He will also work to enhance Texas Tech's funding from both the state and federal government.

Eleven Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso doctors make the list of El Paso's Best Doctors.

The patient clinics of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine unite under one name and identity—Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso. It was developed as a tool to unify patient care efforts across five campuses—Abilene, Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock and the Permian Basin. Texas Tech Physicians brings together more than 500 physicians... the largest network of physicians and healthcare professionals in West Texas.

The First Annual Research Day is held. Faculty from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso join faculty from the University of Texas at El Paso to discuss six research areas: cancer, diabetes/obesity, HIV/AIDS, genetics, infectious diseases and community-based research.

The Texas Legislature approves $48 million for the El Paso Medical School. On June 12, Governor Rick Perry arrived in El Paso to attend a ceremonial signing for higher education legislature and to celebrate the passage of the bill that will provide millions in startup funds for the full four-year medical school.

The Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) is scheduled to visit the campus in November for a site visit to determine whether Texas Tech is prepared to be provisionally accredited at their February 2008 meeting, which will allow the school to accept the first class of medical students in 2009.

John C. Baldwin, M.D., is named President of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center system. Dr. Baldwin is a former professor of surgery from Harvard University and president and chief executive officer of the Immune Disease Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

David J. Steele, Ph.D., and Brian W. Tobin, Ph.D., begin work at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso to assist with the development of the curriculum for the four-year medical school, and accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The data base, which has been led by long-time faculty and professor, Daryl Williams, M.D., was developed over the course of the last several years and will be reviewed by the LCME prior to a June meeting. From 60 to 80 new faculty members are expected to be hired by August of 2009.

Rotary Clubs of El Paso present a check in the amount of $70,000—proceeds of this year's Celebrity Chef event—to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center officials, for the El Paso School of Medicine.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso announces that the El Paso School of Medicine will be named in honor of Paul L. Foster, President and CEO of Western Refining, Inc. Foster donated $50 million to the TTUHSC El Paso School of Medicine, the largest gift ever to be received in the Texas Tech University System. The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine will focus on the following areas:

• Training physicians capable of delivering quality, affordable health care
• Offering superior health care for the community of El Paso
• Creating Centers of Excellence for scientific research related to Border Health issues
• Generating significant economic expansion in the El Paso region

The funds provided will initially help finance faculty recruitment, salaries, and state-of-the-art equipment for cutting-edge research. The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine will create new opportunities vital for research and advances in healthcare that will profoundly affect the region, state, nation and world.

On September 20, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst expressed his continued support of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso School of Medicine after completing a tour of the Medical Science Building I and the Medical Education Building. During the 80^th Legislative Session, Dewhurst secured $48 million in the 2008-2009 state budget to help fund faculty.

President John Baldwin appoints Regional Dean Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D. as Founding Dean of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.

On February 5, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. School of Medicine receives accreditation.