TTUHSC Permian Basin Featured at Texas Tech University System Board of Regents Meeting

• By Suzanna Cisneros
• February 24, 2023
• Education

In conjunction with the Texas Tech University System (TTU System) Board of Regents meeting, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) showcased clinical and academic highlights at the Odessa and Midland university locations.

This marks the second time a regularly scheduled Board of Regents meeting will be held in Odessa and the first since 2002. The board’s first meeting at a non-Lubbock campus was in the Permian Basin in Midland in 1999.

TTUHSC Odessa was established in 1979 and opened the doors to its patient practice in 1999, providing increased access to primary and specialized health care for patients of the Permian Basin (PB). The Odessa TTUHSC academic campus includes a TTUHSC Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions.  

The Midland campus is home to Texas Tech Physicians, the Behavioral Health Clinic and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health Jenna Welch Women’s Center. Also started in 1999, the School of Health Professions Physician Assistant Program (PA) trains physician assistants to provide clinical opportunities in primary care in rural and underserved populations in West Texas.

The regents visited an open house at the TTUHSC Physician Assistant Campus at Midland College where faculty and students highlighted the F. Marie Hall SimLife Center, the PA Program, PB resident experience, collaborative academics and the Institute of Anatomical Sciences. 

During the BOR meeting, regents observed demonstrations for a Marathon, Texas telemedicine consult and a Matador UAS Consortium drone. TTUHSC President Lori Rice-Spearman, Ph.D., shared with the regents that as a university, TTUHSC contributes approximately $38.2 million annually into the local economy and sustain almost 230 jobs statewide.