The Medical Center of the Americas project is picking up steam, with a presentation to the mayor’s Medical
Cabinet April 12 that led to a resolution to support funding a master plan.
The resolution could become a recommendation to the City Council in the next few months. The Council would
be asked to help fund the master plan for development of the Medical Center of the Americas.
It’s unclear at this point how much the city would be asked for.
The Medical Center of the Americas concept would cluster medical assets in the area now dominated by
Thomason and Texas Tech. The idea is that Thomason's $120 million expansion, Tech's nascent medical school,
and the affiliated labs and centers, along with a children's hospital, would create a gravity that draws public and
private institutions to create an economic center along the lines of San Antonio's South Texas Medical Center or
Houston's Texas Medical Center.
The MCA Foundation is a not-for-profit entity created to be “keeper of the vision” and master land planner, a
group with an eye on the big picture of developing a health care industry. The Foundation was organized by the
Paso del Norte Group, a civic leadership organization that is involved in several other major regional
development efforts, such as the Downtown Plan and the Regional Mobility Authority.
The Foundation’s April 12 presentation included an executive summary of the MCA vision, and a draft of the
request for proposals (RFP) for the master plan, which includes proposed timelines.
The executive summary states that El Paso “has the opportunity to lead the nation with the first medical center
to focus on education, research and care focused on the opportunities and challenges unique to Hispanics in the
United States.”
The draft RFP notes the growth of the Hispanic population along the border and in the U.S., and states that
“clearly the country is in the midst of change rather than at an end point in this demographic transition, and this
dramatic shift will be a powerful force in shaping the nation’s future. El Paso is thus the logical place to realize
the MCA vision: El Paso’s population today is the nation’s population of tomorrow.”
The MCA, the summary states, already has a physical form. Eight institutions are in the area of Thomason and
Texas Tech; the other six are the psychiatric center, the office of the medical examiner, Texas Department of
Human Services, the West Texas Regional Poison Center, the Silva magnet high school, and administration of
the City-County Health District.
Other partners “that are not currently in the physical location of the existing MCA plan, but may be joined
through other mechanisms (e.g., technology, transportation),” according to the summary, include UTEP, EPCC,
the VA system, University of Houston school of health, and NMSU.
Investment opportunities, according to the summary, include a children’s hospital, nursing school, medical
research incubator for local and visiting researchers, and hotels, restaurants and other retail.
“Developing the MCA and realizing its full potential will require coordinated and determined action from many
individuals and institutions,” the summary states.
The draft RFP includes a master plan scope, including such elements as: considering current and planned
medical facilities in the MCA area and around the region; an architectural theme; potential future partners; land
acquisition; the connection with the Downtown Plan; considering nearby residents; traffic and pedestrian
control; and timelines, costs and funding.
The initial timeline is for the master plan to begin in September and end in March, 2007.