May 9, 2014
Westside Hospital: We all read the news this week about the Sierra Providence Health
Network’s decision to partner with a company called Medistar to build a new teaching hospital on the city’s Westside. Sierra also announced that it plans to staff the 108-bed facility with Texas Tech physicians. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked since then if the move signals a weakening of UMC’s 40-year partnership with the Medical School.
My answer to everyone who has asked has been, "Absolutely not." Quite frankly, we think it’s not only a great development, but the logical next step in Texas Tech’s evolution. Let me tell you why.
First and foremost, we all know what a medically under served region El Paso is. That’s why
UMC has been steadily expanding its footprint throughout the county and why we will add even more sites in the next few years. So any news that others are doing similarly is welcome. New healthcare infrastructure also means new, good-paying jobs. That, too, is welcome news in a city that suffers from high unemployment and often sees its best and brightest talent leave our community for opportunities elsewhere.
The venture also happens to be an important step for the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.
You may not realize this, but when the Medical School admitted its first class in 2009, it took in just 40 students. This year, 100 students were admitted to the four-year school.
Obviously, all of those students need facilities in which to do their clinical rotations, as do the resident physicians and fellows who are receiving specialized post-graduate training. Since
UMC is only so big, Texas Tech needed to reach out to the private sector. That may be a new concept for our community, but it is an arrangement that is common at most medical schools around the country.
I also find the news encouraging because it means the private sector will now join us in helping to bear the cost of training medical students and graduate physicians. UMC has borne the vast majority of that cost for years. So I am supportive of this new public/private sector partnership, but I do have a few concerns.
Texas Tech’s leaders have said that they will need to recruit up to 35 new faculty physicians to staff the Westside hospital. I worry that the school may transfer some of the physicians who currently work on our campus to the new site during that recruitment period, or worse yet, permanently station them there if recruitment efforts fall short. In all honesty, Texas
Tech currently has trouble meeting UMC’s growing needs for physicians and services. My concern is that a further erosion of physician coverage could negatively impact patient care on our campus.
I also worry that because Texas Tech is partnering with a for-profit entity, it may change its admitting patterns such that the Westside hospital will receive the school’s funded patients and UMC will be left only with the uninsured. That obviously has ramifications for local

taxpayers. It also could compromise UMC’s operating and financial performance, which would, in turn, reduce our ability to fund Texas Tech’s own programs at the main campus.
That would be detrimental to the Medical School.
Still, I look forward to productive talks with the Medical School on those issues and to continued collaboration with them, and now, with Tenet (the Sierra/Providence Network’s parent company). All of us are working to advance healthcare access in this market and now
Tenet is also working to increase access to quality medical education programs. That's something we should all be excited about!
“Jane Doe” Case Settled: Also in the news this week was word that UMC and the Texas
Tech physicians who were named in the "Jane Doe" lawsuit have settled the case. As you'll recall, the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit back in December on behalf of a
New Mexico woman who alleged that her civil rights were violated when Customs and Border
Patrol agents brought her to the hospital for evaluation.
I've told you previously that UMC's Board took immediate action to hire an independent healthcare attorney to evaluate our policies, procedures and practices and to make any recommendations she may have for improvement. We held a news conference in early April to make her report available to the community and to announce that the Board had voted unanimously to adopt all of her suggestions. Those include tightening our consent policies, re-emphasizing them with staff through on-going training, working with area law enforcement agencies to ensure that each of us understands our roles and responsibilities, and implementing a program to better educate our patients about their rights.
While all of that was underway, UMC's lawyers at the County Attorney's office went to work on the legal case. Eventually, they entered into mediation with the plaintiff and her legal representatives. Their work recently culminated in a settlement. The details of the settlement have not yet been finalized with the court, so I cannot comment on them. But I will say this. UMC did not settle this case to 'make it go away.' We did so to bring closure for the plaintiff and to the issues that she alleged.
The long-standing expectation we have of everyone who works at University Medical Center is that every patient will be treated with respect and dignity. That expectation is among our organization's core values. I am sorry that the plaintiff believes we did not live up to that expectation. That certainly was never our intent.
National Nurses’ Week: Nurses from around the country, including the 713 nurses who staff UMC’s largest division, joined in celebration this week, not only in honor of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, but to celebrate the full range of contributions made to our communities by the nursing profession.
I am especially grateful for the many contributions
UMC nurses make every day. Regardless of whether they work in an inpatient or ambulatory setting, our nurses wear many hats, and though

they may hail from different cultures and have diverse interests and strengths, each of them is committed to their patients’ well being. Their roles are ever changing, but one thing has remained constant since Florence Nightingale blazed the trail: the profession’s number one priority is to provide high quality patient care.
I’d like to extend my heartiest wishes on a happy Nurses’ Week to all of those men and women who have dedicated so much of their lives to our patients. They are true examples of the UMC C.A.R.E. values. Without these special individuals, we would not be able to provide the quality care El Pasoans have come to expect from their community hospital.
Great going!
I’d also like to invite everyone to stop by our main lobby on Monday to visit our nursing history museum. You’ll get a glimpse of nearly 100 years of nursing history and tradition at
UMC and elsewhere. And please watch this video of our RNs as they talk about why they so enjoy their work. You’ll see why I am so appreciative of all that they do.
Generous Grant: University Medical Center’s Foundation recently received a $10,000 grant from the Robert E. and Evelyn Mckee Foundation designated to support the “Sobreviviendo El
Cancer/Surviving Cancer” program at UMC. The $10,000 grant will help fund “basics” for our needy cancer patients, things like prescriptions, durable medical equipment, travel to and from medical appointments, co-pays for physician visits, lab work, and chemotherapy. As we all know, there is a great need in our community, so we are most appreciated of the McKee
Foundation’s generous support.
Tour of El Paso: It’s not too early to register for what will be the first USA Cycling sanctioned bike race in El Paso for more than a decade. Tour of El Paso, a time trial, criterium and road race will be May 17-18. In fact, if you’re interested, you’d better register now because the deadline is May 14 th and there will be no race-day registrations. The two day tour consists of a
2.5-mile half loop time trial around McKelligon Canyon, a 1.1 mile criterium off Global Reach and a 50 to 65 mile road race from Fabens to Fort Hancock and back. If cycling isn’t your thing, organizers say they are in need of plenty of volunteers to assist with the activities. For more information, click here.
Weekend: When you go out to retrieve the morning paper from your front driveway tomorrow, don’t forget to take that paper sack that you found in your mailbox last weekend with you. It’s time for the 22nd annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. The sacks were distributed as a convenient way for El Pasoans to replenish area food banks. Please load them up with non-perishable food items and place them next to your mailbox. Your postal worker will pick them up when he delivers your mail.
Sunday is Mother’s Day and that means that all of the rest of us need to make sure that mom doesn’t have to lift a finger. She more than deserves her special day. Consider this…where would you be had it not been for her? Happy Mother’s Day, ladies! Enjoy! - Jim

James N. Valenti
President & CEO
University Medical Center of El Paso
4815 Alameda
El Paso, Texas 79905
(915) 521-7602 jvalenti@umcelpaso.org
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