Thank you, Dr. Raimer, for the outstanding job you are doing as President ad interim. Your devotion to this historic and critically important institution is clear.  I congratulate you, and your entire team, on this exciting and important day.

I’ll add my welcome and deepest appreciation to David Callender, UTMB’s recent, visionary president.  And thanks, especially, to all of the donors and supporters here with us today, who helped make this magnificent new facility possible. 

I may be new to Texas, but I join a group of Board members and other leaders with deep history and wisdom – Janiece Longoria, John Zerwas, and Amy Shaw Thomas.

I know everyone here understands that the health institutions of the UT System play a critical role in the health of Texas. 

We have most of the public medical schools in the state, award more than half of all health-related degrees and account for nearly two-thirds of resident physicians at public institutions in the state – and UT-owned and affiliated hospitals and clinics care for millions of patients each year.

It all started at UT Medical Branch, back in 1891.  But its importance to Texas has never been greater than it is today.  A recent study naming it among the top academic medical centers in the nation for clinical quality and safety – the third year in a row it has earned that recognition.

UTMB is a crown jewel of the UT System, by virtue of its strong history, of course, but more so its critical importance and success today!

Education:  Its nearly 3,400 students is a record, and represents a 45% increase since 2008.  Texas needs many more health professionals, and we need to lead the way.

Research:  Last year, $140 million dedicated to take on the toughest, most important medical challenges – vaccine development, fighting infectious diseases, diabetes, neurosciences, chronic diseases of aging, and more.

And patient care:  Last year the health professionals of UTMB cared for a record number of patients, including 1.2 million outpatient encounters, 88,000 emergency room visits, and 6,400 babies delivered.

And, the successful new partnership between UTMB and MD Anderson Cancer Center on the League City Campus is bringing a new level of cancer care to the region – and is a model for future partnerships within the UT System.

UTMB is charging into the future – and the momentum it has built has now kicked into overdrive with the opening of this terrific Health Education Center.

Texas is growing fast – some think our population will double in the next thirty years – so if we want to keep our state healthy and prosperous, we need more physicians, more nurses, more scientists, more occupational, physical, and respiratory therapists. 

And the graduates of this historic institution will be among the best prepared anywhere!

This is a great day for UTMB, for Texas – and for the generations of Texans whose lives will be made better by the men and women educated right here.

So congratulations, again, to Dr. Raimer and his team. 

And thank you all for supporting this wonderful institution.