Bexar County funding several transformative public health projects in next few years
SAN ANTONIO - Public health in San Antonio is being transformed with the addition of several new facilities across the area, including a long-anticipated School of Public Health.
Bexar County Commissioners have set a $60 million budget to support several public health projects expected to be completed in the next few years.
UT Health San Antonio is collaborating with UTSA on the UT School of Public Health San Antonio. It will give local students the chance to earn advanced degrees and pursue jobs in their hometown.
"The Board of Regents charged both UTSA and UT Health San Antonio with an extraordinary job, which is to create a free-standing independent school of public health in San Antonio, the seventh largest city in the United States and the largest without a school of public health," says Dr. Jennifer Potter, vice president of research at UT Health San Antonio.
The Commissioners are funneling $10 million into the new school. The plan is to repurpose an existing building in the Medical Center to accomodate the new school.
It's part of a five-year startup plan that ultimately will include other partners contributing another $30 million.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for us to join and work together in that way," Dr. Potter says.
Masters degrees in public health will be offered starting in 2024, followed by a doctoral program in 2025.
"There's huge interest in wanting to enter bachelors, masters and PhD programs,," says UTSA president Taylor Eighmy, "but also the jobs that are out there when you graduate are available here and are high paying here. That is an absolute formula for keeping our young people here."
The county is also committing $30 million toward a medical office building adjacent to the Texas A&M-San Antonio campus, filling a major need on the south side of the county within two years.
"We see this as a great community asset for the area," says Ed Banos, chief operating officer at University Health, which is spearheading the project. "It's a medically underserved area as well as a health care shortage area."
A $10 million administrative building is planned too, on the east or west side.
Money for a sizable portion of these projects is coming through American Rescue Plan funds.