81R15482 CBE-D
By: Martinez Fischer H.R. No. 1318
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, A group from The University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio is visiting the State Capitol on April 29,
2009, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the legislation that
established this outstanding institution; and
WHEREAS, Originally known as the South Texas Medical School,
UTHSC at San Antonio was established with the passage of House Bill
9 on April 29, 1959, and subsequently funded through a combination
of state and federal money; the School of Medicine and an adjacent
teaching hospital opened in 1968 and were soon followed by the
School of Nursing and the Dental School; the school became one of
four UT Health Science Centers created by the UT System Board of
Regents in the early 1970s and was later expanded to include the
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Health
Professions; and
WHEREAS, Today, UTHSC at San Antonio also educates students
at the Laredo Campus Extension and the Regional Academic Health
Center Medical Education Division in Harlingen; more than 25,600
students have graduated from the center since its inception; and
WHEREAS, UTHSC at San Antonio is further distinguished as the
premiere research institution in South Texas and includes the RAHC
Medical Research Division in Edinburg and the Greehey Children's
Cancer Research Institute in San Antonio; its faculty are
international leaders in such fields as cancer, cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, stroke prevention, kidney disease, transplant
surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, and dentistry;
among the innovations developed at the school are the Palmaz Stent,
the first stent used with angioplasty to keep open coronary and
peripheral arteries, the Titanium Rib, a prosthetic device for
children born with malformed chest walls, and EZ-IO, an alternative
infusion technique; and
WHEREAS, Employing some 5,000 Texans, UTHSC at San Antonio
positively impacts the economies of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and
San Antonio, where it significantly contributes to the
multi-billion-dollar biosciences and health care sector; through
the years, the center has been skillfully led by Dr. Frank Harrison,
Dr. John Howe, and Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa, and Dr. William L.
Henrich has served as interim president since 2008; and
WHEREAS, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San
Antonio provides its students with an exceptional education and a
solid foundation for future success, and in so doing, it
contributes to the continued success and prosperity of the Lone
Star State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby recognize April 29, 2009, as The University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Day at the State Capitol
and extend a warm welcome to all those from the center who are
visiting here today; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for The University of Texas Health Science Center at San
Antonio as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of
Representatives.