Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: May 13, 1999

UT System News Release

Regents Approve Gifts of Land for Regional Academic Health Center

EDINBURG -- The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System approved gifts of land Thursday in Harlingen and Brownsville for facilities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Regional Academic Health Center.

The land in Harlingen is 26.2 acres being given to the U.T. System by Valley Baptist Medical Center. The site is adjacent to the medical center and will be used for construction of a $25 million building for the Harlingen Medical Education Division of the RAHC. An affiliation agreement with the medical center is expected to be concluded in the near future.

In Brownsville, the Southmost Union Junior College District is donating eight acres adjacent to U.T. Brownsville. Part of the site is planned for construction of a $5 million Brownsville Public Health Division of the RAHC. The site will also be used for construction of a Life and Health Science Building for U.T. Brownsville. That building is still in the planning stage.

"These generous gifts of land are evidence that the Regional Academic Health Center is a true partnership between the U.T. System and the communities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley," said Donald L. Evans, chairman of the Board of Regents. "We are continuing to move forward with development of the RAHC in an expeditious manner for the benefit of all the people of the region."

U.T. System Chancellor William H. Cunningham said: "We are very grateful to Valley Baptist Medical Center and the Southmost Union Junior College District for these donations, which will make a significant contribution to ensuring that the RAHC will be able to fulfill its mission."

The Harlingen and Brownsville locations are among four sites for the RAHC selected by the Board of Regents last November. The other sites, in Edinburg and McAllen, are also contingent on gifts of land and other agreements with local authorities.

The Brownsville Public Health Division will be operated by the U.T. Health Science Center at Houston, and the other three sites will be operated by the U.T. Health Science Center at San Antonio.