Two grain silos and a hundred-acre dairy farm have been miraculously transformed over the past six 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 was renamed in 1967) and Bexar County Teaching Hospital (now University Health) were dedicated. Other schools were added in succeeding years and, in 1972, thei nstitution's name officially became The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Today, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) is a chief catalyst of San Antonio's $44.1 billion health care and biosciences economic sector. Each year, the university graduates approximately 200 physicians, 400 nurses, 100 dentists, 560 professionals in other health fields and 130 scientists. Additionally, the health science center provides a vast amount of continuing medical and dental education, affords 2.6 million patient visits each year, and provides approximately $598 million annually in uncompensated health care services.
Background
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 and the largest research institution in South Texas. The annual expense budget for FY 23 is $ 1.08 billion. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 41,100 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. In 2021, The University of Texas Board of Regents recognized that the region’s persistent disparities in key health outcomes require a public health approach and voted to authorize UT Health San Antonio and UTSA to develop a new school focused on public health policy. Over the next five years, a student census of almost 400 is planned for The UT School of Public Health San Antonio, with a Master of Public Health degree to be offered beginning in 2024 and a Doctor of Public Health degree program to be developed.
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, MD, MACP
- Fall 2022 enrollment: 3,527, plus 1,075 medical residents and post-graduate trainees
- Total graduates: more than 41,100
- Total faculty: 2,324
- Total workforce: more than 7,900
- FY 23 annual expense budget: $ 1.08 billion
- UT Health San Antonio is the largest research institution in South Texas and is ranked in the top 3 % of all organizations worldwide that receive National Institutes of Health funding.
- Among the top-ranked institutions in Texas for aging research funding from the National Institute on Aging
- Endowments: approximately $778 million (FY 22)
- Annual sponsored program awards and research activity: $360 million (FY 22), on track for $400 million (FY 23)
- A chief catalyst for the $44.1 billion biosciences and health care sector of the San Antonio economy
- Eight National Academy of Medicine members
- Supports 2.6 million patient visits each year through 800 providers in 100 medical specialties and subspecialties
- In 2021, UT Health San Antonio broke ground on a 144-bed hospital. The UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital is expected to open in 2024 and will offer specialty care in cancer, orthopaedics, urology and thoracic and bariatric surgery, among other areas of patient care.