Interview with Annette Cordova

What is the University Medical Center?

The University Medical Center of El Paso is the largest public hospital
located directly on the U.S./Mexico border. Its mission since opening in
1915 has been to enhance the health and wellness of the El Paso
community by making high quality, affordable healthcare services
available to all.
UMC, accredited by The Joint Commission, is El Pasos only not-for-profit,
community-owned hospital. It is a 396-bed, licensed, acute care facility
and the only teaching hospital in the West Texas/Southern New Mexico
region.
Explain the educational system at UMC
Texas Tech University Medical School designated UMC as its primary
teaching facility in 1973. The Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center on the hospital campus offers resident physicians post-graduate
training in:
o Anesthesiology
o Family Practice
o Psychiatry
o Internal Medicine
o Pediatrics
o Surgery
o Emergency Medicine
o Orthopedic Surgery
o Obstetrics
o Radiology
o Additionally, Allied Health Career students receive their clinical training
at UMC through the hospitals affiliation agreements with the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Centers School of Nursing, the University of
Texas at El Paso and the El Paso Community College as well as numerous
teaching institutions in Southern New Mexico and Texas.
What is UMCs best characteristic about the ER?
UMC is home to the only Level I Trauma Center within a 280-mile radius
of El Paso.

o Eighty-five percent of all trauma cases, life-threatening injuries, in the

region annually are transported to UMC. The Trauma Center is served by
a helipad.
o The Trauma Center is within one of the busiest Emergency Departments
in the region, treating more than 60,000 patients annually.
What is the main focus of the Womens Pavillion?
Almost a third of all babies born in local hospitals annually are delivered
at the Womens Pavilion at UMC, the regions only hospital just for
women. UMC is typically among the busiest hospitals nationally for
number of deliveries.
o UMC is a regional referral center for high-risk pregnant women. Board
certified obstetricians and maternal/fetal medicine specialists are on site
24/7. Babies needing specialized care are admitted to the state-of-the art
Level 3 Intensive Care Nursery at El Paso Childrens Hospital on the UMC
campus. It, too, is staffed 24/7 by board certified neonatologists. The
neonatal mortality rate of 1.2 per 1,000 live births compares extremely
favorably with the national average.
Additional Statistics: More than 500,000 prescriptions are filled by UMCs
Pharmacy for outpatients every year. Another 1.8 million doses of
medicine are prepared by the Pharmacy for the hospitals inpatients
annually.
o UMCs West Texas Regional Poison Center, certified by the American
Association of Poison Control Centers, is Americas only 24-hour
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bilingual poison center. Its Associates provide service to the 1.4 million
people located in its 36-county service region.
o More than 1,000,000 meals are prepared by UMCs cafeteria annually
The expertise associated with UMCs Level I trauma program has been
noticed as far away as the nations capital.
o Since the early 1990s, the White House has continuously designated
UMC as the receiving facility for the President of the United States or Vice
President should either require medical care while traveling in the West
Texas/Southern New Mexico region.
UMCs Level I Trauma Center designation by the State of Texas followed
an on-site survey of the hospitals facilities by the American College of

Surgeons, which established the stringent criteria U.S. trauma programs

must meet.
o Key elements of Level I centers include 24/7, in-house coverage by
trauma surgeons and prompt availability of care in specialties such as
orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine,
radiology, internal medicine, and critical care. Other required capabilities
include cardiac, hand, pediatric, and micro-vascular surgery, and
hemodialysis.
UMC has earned recognition three times as one of the nations top
performing hospitals in a study titled: 100 Top Hospitals: Benchmarks for
Success. The study is done annually by by Thomson/Reuters to help
identify those U.S. hospitals that demonstrate superior performance on
the basis of key measures related to clinical practices, operations and
financial management. UMC is the only El Paso hospital ever to earn this
recognition.
Recently, the Texas Medical Foundation Health Quality Institute, which
is the Medicare quality improvement organization for Texas, presented
UMC with its Silver Award for its performance related to the Appropriate
Care measures. UMC was the only Hospital District in Texas to receive the
award.
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It also has received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Medal of Honor four times for saving lives through its Organ Donation
Program. UMCs conversion rate (the number of potential donors who
actually become organ donors) exceeds the federal governments goal
for U.S. hospitals of 75%.
UMC is a two-time recipient of the National Association of Public Hospitals
& Health Systems Community Engagement Award and has also been
presented with the organizations Presidents Award for the incredible
transformation that has taken place on its campus in recent years.