Commissioner Calvert Leads Charge for New Bexar County Clinical Skills Center at University of the Incarnate Word Medical School

Brooks City Base in southeast Bexar county is now primed to become San Antonio’s second medical center, thanks to the University of Incarnate Word’s new medical school—the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine.

The medical school’s most recent expansion debuted on June 20, 2018 as the University held a grand opening ceremony for their new, state-of-the-art clinical skills center.

The Bexar County Commissioner’s Court provided key funding for the construction of the new clinic.

Medical students attending the School of Osteopathic Medicine will now be able to gain hands-on experience performing essential primary care procedures on members of the community in Bexar County at the newly-opened clinic with the supervision of professors and experienced doctors.

Patients of the medical school student will be able to utilize the clinic as a free primary care facility and receive services such as cancer screenings, immunizations, as well as injury and ailment diagnoses.

The Bexar County Commissioner’s Court, following a push spearheaded by Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert, appropriated $1.5 million dollars for the clinic’s construction, which, according to Commissioner Calvert, “will have a $1.5 billion impact [for the Brooks City Base area] over the next 10 years [and will] create a second medical center on the Southeast side; benefit[ing] counties throughout South Texas.”

The University medical school and clinic might not exist if not for the lobbying efforts of Commissioner Tommy Calvert. When the Texas Legislature was deciding between multiple distinct institutions to officially recognize as an official medical school, Commissioner Calvert made it his top legislative priority in the 2017 Legislative Session to lobby Texas lawmakers in order to secure the state’s official recognition, recognition vital for the UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine and the fourth precinct by extension.

With the status of the medical school settled, the Commissioner pivoted to shepherding the clinic’s funding through the Commissioner’s Court.

Medical School Dean, Dr. Robyn Phillips-Madson, asserts that “Commissioner Calvert’s support was invaluable in advocating to the Commissioner’s Court for [the construction of the] interactive learning environment and clinical space.”

Precinct 4 County Commissioner Tommy Calvert’s support for the school and clinic was “invaluable.”

Bexar County, like so many other Texan counties , suffers from an acute shortage of physicians and trained medical personnel—with an even more substantial shortcoming in its retention of native San Antonian medical talent.

The construction of the clinic is a meaningful step towards resolving this shortfall—23% of the School of Osteopathic Medicine’s inaugural class are native Bexar County citizens.

University administrators have made it their prerogative to recruite local South Texas students to the program, with the hope that this new opportunity is an effective tool to inspire and develop San Antonio’s next generation of physicians.

For further coverage, click here.