University Medical Center of El Paso is a non-profit public hospital in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
. University Medical Center is licensed by the
State of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and accredited by the
Joint Commission
The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world. A majori ...
. Since the early 1990s, the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
has designated Thomason as the hospital where the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
,
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
and former Presidents of the United States will be treated should they require medical care while traveling in the region. University Medical Center also provides financial assistance to people in need. Free or discounted healthcare services are available to El Paso County residents who meet eligibility guidelines.
History
University Medical Center first opened as El Paso General Hospital in 1915, in a two-story, adobe building located west of downtown El Paso. One year later, the hospital was moved to 4815 Alameda Avenue in El Paso. In the 1950s, voters created the El Paso County Hospital District, which would govern the General Hospital, agreeing to be taxed to support the District which would also provide
indigent
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little
care. Voters also authorized the construction of the current facility and the hospital was renamed R.E. Thomason General Hospital after former El Paso Mayor, U.S. Congressman and Federal Judge, R. Ewing Thomason.
Thomason Hospital officially changed its name to University Medical Center of El Paso on Monday, July 13, 2009. One hospital building will retain the Thomason name as "Thomason Tower".
Administration
University Medical Center is overseen by a seven-member panel called the Board of Managers. They are appointed to their posts by El Paso's County Judge and Commissioners to be policy setters for Thomason and its outpatient facilities. They are also responsible for hiring the hospital's Chief Executive Officer. Board members serve two-year terms and are not paid for the work they do on behalf of the county hospital. This is the main teaching hospital of the
Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine is a medical school in El Paso, Texas at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine is the 9th medical school in the state of Texas, and the medical schoo ...
at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso.
Controversies
On Dec. 8, 2012, an American citizen was crossing the border to return home to the US and Customs and Border Protection officers stopped her. She presented her passport to them and did not have any illegal drugs or contraband. She was then taken into custody and repeatedly searched in an increasingly intrusive manner. According to court documents, "First, two female agents conducted a pat down. The agents found no drugs. The agents then held (her) for a K-9 search. The K-9 failed to alert to the presence of drugs. Two agents then took (her) to a restroom, where they ordered her to pull down her pants and underwear and bend over slightly. The agents conducted a visual inspection of (her) vaginal and anal area. Again, the agents found no drugs. Despite no evidence of drugs, the agents placed tape on (her) legs and abdomen, handcuffed her, and transported her to the University Medical Center (the “Hospital”) in El Paso. " There, two male doctors forced a pelvic exam, a rectal exam and an x-ray on her which she did not consent to, in front of other hospital personnel. At no time were drugs found. University Medical Center then charged her $5,000. The Fifth Court of Appeals found that the hospital staff had no liability under district court dismissing the Appellant's claims based on qualified immunity.
In March 2020 the hospital reprimanded a physician for wearing a surgical mask outside a patient care areas during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The warning was sent by the head of anesthesia who referred to the disease as the "Wuhan virus".
File:University Children's Hospital, El Paso.JPG, El Paso Children's Hospital, completed February, 2012.