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 west El Paso, are equipped with the latest medical equipment and technology available, serving more than 300,000 people.

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.

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.