Building's dedication brings possibility of Valley med school closer to reality

HARLINGEN — The dream of building a medical school in the Rio Grande Valley is edging closer to reality, officials said Thursday as they dedicated a $25 million clinical research facility and veterans clinic.

Officials from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, along with legislators and state and local leaders, heralded the completion of the Regional Academic Health Center’s Academic and Clinical Research Building, which is adjacent to the RAHC’s medical education building in Harlingen.

The 80,000-square-foot facility consists of exam rooms, a laboratory and offices for clinical researchers and statisticians.

In addition, 34,000 square feet of the facility is leased to South Texas Veterans Health Care System for an outpatient clinic, which is slated to be expanded to 158,000 square feet as funding becomes available.

The facility, and the programs offered at the RAHC, will “expand to greater heights” in the future, said Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, president of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Two groups of researchers will be the first to use the new building: a group undertaking a major diabetes study, and researchers gathering data for the National Children’s Study, said Dr. Leonel Vela, RAHC regional dean.

Researchers announced last month that Hidalgo County will be one of 100 sites nationwide participating in the children’s study, which will follow 1,000 local children from before birth until their 21st birthdays. The investigators will gather data on the impact of a variety of factors, from diet to water quality to poverty, on a child’s health and development.

Some of the clinical research for that study will take place in Harlingen, while genetics and statistics research will take place at the RAHC medical research building in Edinburg, Vela said.

The research facility in Edinburg is used for laboratory research, genetics research and animal-based studies, Vela said. The new Harlingen building will be used for studies involving human subjects, he said.

The presence of these research facilities will help to bring more medical residents to programs at the RAHC and set the stage for more doctors to practice here, officials said.

“(The RAHC) is developing a reputation as a top-notch facility,” said state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, who sponsored the 1997 legislation that established the RAHC in the Valley. “The expansion will improve the ability to attract top-notch students and doctors.”

The goal for some officials is even more ambitious, Lucio said.

“We won’t stop until we have a fully functional medical school,” he said.

Funding to run the RAHC facilities is coming in fits and starts, however. The Texas Legislature appropriated $5 million to run the new clinical research facility, but future funding will depend on what the Legislature decides, officials have said.

Valley legislators at Thursday’s dedication said they were committed to supporting the RAHC.

“We have a great future in front of us,” said state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg. “We have a lot of work in front of us (too), but it’s going to be a great ride.”