UT Health San Antonio's History

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 Health) were dedicated. Other schools were added in succeeding years, and in 1972 the institution's name officially became The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Today, UT Health San Antonio is the chief catalyst for San Antonio's $42.4 billion health care and bioscience industry. The university graduates approximately 200 physicians, 400 nurses, 100 dentists, 400 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 2 million patient visits each year, and covers approximately $501 million of gross charges annually for uncompensated health care services.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also called UT Health San Antonio, is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities. The annual operating expense budget for FY 22 is $ 1.08 billion. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 39,700 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.

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.