Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing Approved

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing in El Paso was granted initial approval by the Texas Board of Nursing and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to admit students effective September 1, 2011.  The next step for the new School of Nursing in El Paso is to begin work toward achieving voluntary professional accreditation through the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

According to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, by 2013, more than 15,000 nursing graduates will be needed to meet the state’s demand. Texas produced 7,800 graduates in 2010, therefore, significant efforts need to be made at many levels to meet the 2013 target, according to nursing officials.

Last October, the Hunt Family Foundation in El Paso donated a $10 million gift to the Texas Tech University System. The donation will be used to develop an autonomous, fully-accredited nursing school at TTUHSC El Paso.  Gayle Greve Hunt is the wife of Woody L. Hunt, chairman of the Hunt Family Foundation and CEO of the Hunt Companies, headquartered in El Paso.

TTUHSC President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., said he is pleased with the decision by the Texas State Board of Nursing to approve a new freestanding nursing school in El Paso.

“I am proud of our School of Nursing for its diligence in addressing the major shortage of nurses facing Texas and the nation,” Mitchell said. “With the new Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing in El Paso educating nurses, El Paso residents will have a better chance to get the quality health care they deserve.

"The newly-established Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing is the culmination of the extraordinary philanthropy of the Hunt Family Foundation, the outstanding leadership skills of our founding Paul L. Foster School of Medicine dean, Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, and widespread community support,” said Josefina Lujan, Ph.D., R.N., interim dean of the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing.  “I am honored to be part of this effort that advances Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance's vision for an urgently-needed TTUHSC in El Paso.”

With the increasing shortage of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in Texas and across the country, the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing is committed to creating possibilities that prepare nursing students to meet the challenges of today's complex health care environment. The school offers several options in nursing education:

• The Traditional BSN track offers unique opportunities for students who are not registered nurses to receive the latest state-of-the-art baccalaureate nursing education. Combined with the expertise of nationally recognized faculty and the opportunity to work with other health care professionals, students receive an education that prepares them to be nursing leaders.


• The Second Degree BSN track offers a bachelor's degree in nursing to those who have a bachelor's degree in any field and meet certain admissions requirements. This 12-month accelerated, alternate-entry BSN program uses new technologies in clinical competence assessment and web-based curriculum. Students gain clinical experience on-site at University Medical Center of El Paso.