Two grain silos and a hundred-acre dairy farm have been miraculously transformed over the past few decades to a Health Science Center of international renown. In 1959 Gov. Price Daniel signed House Bill 9, creating the South Texas Medical School. Six years later, the Joe J. Nix Dairy Farm, a wide expanse of grazing land, cattle pens, milking barns and silos to store cattle feed, was conveyed to the State of Texas to build a School of Medicine. On July 12, 1968, The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio (which had been renamed in 1967) and Bexar County Teaching Hospital (now University Hospital) were dedicated. Other schools were added in succeeding years, and in 1972 the institution name officially became The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Today, UT Health San Antonio is a vital part of San Antonio’s $37 billion health care and bioscience industry. The university graduates 200 physicians, 400 nurses, 100 dentists, 300 health professionals in other fields and 100 scientists each year. Additionally, the health science center provides a vast amount of continuing medical and dental education, affords 1.5 million patient visits each year and offers more than $8 million in uncompensated care to the medically indigent.
Background
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, now called UT Health San Antonio is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities. The operating budget for FY 2017 is $806.6 million. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 32,300 graduates. Designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-serving Institution, UT Health San Antonio consistently ranks among the top schools in the nation for graduating Hispanic health care providers. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit uthscsa.edu.
Purpose
The purpose of UT Health San Antonio is to provide the best in health careers education, biomedical research, patient care and community service to San Antonio and the South Texas/Border Region. Through undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs, the faculty is committed to educating health professionals who will provide excellent patient care and research that can be applied to treat and prevent disease.
Facts at a Glance
- Established 1959, doors opened 1968
- President: William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP
- Fall 2016 enrollment: 3,250, plus 906 residents and post-graduate trainees
- Total graduates: more than 32,300
- Total faculty: 1,710
- Total workforce: 5,400
- FY17 revenue operating budget: $806.6 million
- Budget coming from state appropriations: 27 percent
- Among the top-ranked institutions in Texas for aging research funding from the National Institute on Aging
- Endowments: $487 million (as of Aug. 31, 2016)
- Annual research awards and sponsored program activity: $172 million
- Chief catalyst for the $37 billion biosciences and health care industry in San Antonio
- National Academy of Medicine members: 6
- Supports 1.25 million patient visits each year through 700 providers in 140 medical specialties and subspecialties
- Address of (central) Long campus: 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900 Phone: 210-567-7000
- Learn more about living in San Antonio: visitsanantonio.com