Unlike the other hospitals in this area, University Medical Center of El Paso is owned by the people of El Paso.UMC is the city’s only not-for-profit, community hospital, which means UMC's allegiances are to no one other than the people UMC serves.
The work began in 1915 in a two-story, adobe building. The move to 4815 Alameda happened just a year later when residents of the area raised the money to build a new hospital. It was called El Paso General.
Then, in the 1950’s, El Pasoans voted to create the El Paso County Hospital District. By doing so, they agreed to tax themselves to ensure that quality healthcare services would be available in the city, especially for its neediest residents. That’s when R.E. Thomason General Hospital was built in honor of the city's former Mayor, U.S. Congressman and Federal Judge, Mr. Robert Ewing Thomason. On July 13, 2009, it became University Medical Center of El Paso.
2017: UMC opens the expanded service of their outpatient care by opening 2 new clinics on the East and West sides of El Paso. UMC is designated by the Joint Commission, the nation’s highest standard for medical accreditation, as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. UMC was also designated by the State of Texas as a Level 1 Stroke Center.
2018: UMC becomes the first Level 4 Maternal Care hospital in El Paso, designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
2019: UMC is one of two hospitals in El Paso to care for victims of the Aug. 3 shooting that killed 23 El Pasoans. UMC’s expertise in trauma care ensured all of the victims who arrived at the hospital alive on that day survived and are with us today.
2020: Though the main campus Emergency Department was expanded and modernized numerous times, UMC introduced its first satellite emergency departments. The state-of-the-art emergency departments, located in east and northeast El Paso, are equipped with the latest medical equipment and technology available, serving more than 300,000 people. Both UMC Emergency Departments offer pharmacy services and full access to UMC’s Scherr Legate Level 1 Trauma Center.
2020-2021: UMC becomes the foremost hospital in El Paso to provide vaccinations for the El Paso community in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; the largest public health crisis since the pandemic of 1917, when the hospital was only two years old.
2021: UMC unveils the Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU), a specialized vehicle designed to provide rapid response to stroke victims throughout El Paso. It is the most advanced unit of its kind in the world. This same year, the UMC Mobile Health Clinic makes receiving the COVID-19 vaccine easier in El Paso County. The mobile clinic allows vaccines safe transport to pop-up vaccination sites for eligible and pre-registered residents to receive their COVID-19 vaccine without making a trip to the city. Also in 2021, UMC Surgical Center West opens as a 24,000-square-foot facility offering top level endoscopic and neurosurgery care.
2022: UMC continues to work tirelessly to save lives during the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2022, UMC was recognized by America's Essential Hospitals, a national trade association, for its regional and binational COVID-19 vaccination efforts. To date, UMC, along with partners at its vaccination sites at the El Paso County Coliseum, UMC Clinics, and the UMC Mobile Health Clinic, vaccinated over 330,000 patients. In 2022, UMC welcomed the region’s first portable MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) system, known as Swoop. The Swoop, is revolutionizing MRI scanning by bringing the MRI system to patients, at bedside.
2023: UMC notched another first in the El Paso region with the successful introduction and use of the Octaray, an advanced heart-mapping catheter to treat AFib. Additionally, UMC’s Digestive Health Center implemented the use of the region’s first artificial intelligence (AI) endoscopy module, the GI Genius, to find colorectal polyps during a colonoscopy screening. UMC brought another first for El Paso with the use of a high-performance single-port robotic surgical system called Da Vinci SP by Intuitive. The new technology gives surgeons the ability to deliver robotic-assisted surgery through a single port, instead of multiple ports. UMC surgeons also performed El Paso’s first Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis surgery, a procedure to repair damage to the largest artery in the chest. UMC established a joint venture with PAM Rehabilitation Hospital, adding a new service line to UMC, which now offers inpatient rehab.
2024: UMC’s family of services grows with the addition of the new UMC Surgical Hospital. Located at 1416 George Dieter, this fully-renovated facility in east El Paso offers 40 additional beds for inpatient and outpatient procedures, as well as six operating rooms and 10 private pre-op rooms. University Medical Center of El Paso is the only hospital in El Paso to implement the use of an advanced multiport robotic surgical system called Da Vinci 5, by Intuitive that is housed at UMC Surgical Hospital. In 2024, the El Paso County Hospital District, which emcompasses UMC, received the Quality Texas Foundation (QTF) Regional Program Award for Performance Excellence, the highest-level award possible in the State of Texas.
C.A.R.E.S. Values
Through it all, University Medical Center of El Paso’s Mission has remained the same: Here to serve all who seek help, regardless of their ability to pay. UMC is guided by these C.A.R.E.S. Values:
Community
Pursue access to healthcare for all members of our community.
Accountability
Embrace responsibility for the outcomes resulting from our choices and actions.
Respect
Treat everyone with dignity and compassion.
Excellence
Provide the highest quality of care.
Service
Exceed customer's expectations every time.