Preparing Quality Caregivers: UTEP, HCA Partner to Benefit Students
George Avitia was an undergraduate at UTEP when he realized that the romantic notions he had about studying math and becoming an engineer just didn’t match up with his reality. At the Academic Advising Center, a counselor sent him home with a catalogue of careers, and he decided to give nursing a try.
“I’ve loved it ever since,” Avitia said. More than 20 years later, he has worked in a variety of positions in the nursing field, including trauma and intensive care, and is earning his master’s in nursing administration and management with support from a new UTEP partnership with HCA Healthcare.
UTEP and HCA, one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, launched the partnership in July 2022 along with Las Palmas del Sol Healthcare, an HCA affiliate. The four-year initiative enhances graduate nursing education and creates new educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare. HCA’s $750,000 contribution to UTEP is part of a $10-million commitment to historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions across the country.
“Health and human services is the fastest-growing employment sector in Texas,” said UTEP President Heather Wilson. “This partnership with Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare and HCA Healthcare will help develop future leaders in healthcare to serve the community.”
The investment creates multiple advanced-degree opportunities for UTEP students interested in healthcare careers. The graduate degree to advance healthcare administration allows students to build a master’s degree based on certificates that match their interests (e.g., business administration, data science, healthcare and more). The HCA Healthcare Graduate Nursing Fellowships will consist of four cohorts. Students will receive a scholarship to participate in the healthcare administration or nursing fellows program in years two through four, with a total of 60 students having received aid by the end of the initiative.
The first cohort of seven students was admitted during the fall 2022 semester and the second will be admitted in January 2023.
Like Avitia, Michael Huffman is a member of the inaugural nursing fellows cohort and is earning his master’s degree in nursing administration and management while working full time at Las Palmas Medical Center. He chose nursing when he was visiting his grandmother at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and noticed how skilled and caring the nurses were in communicating with his grandmother and his family. He now works as an administrator at Las Palmas, overseeing the cardiology unit.
He said that the hospital’s leadership encouraged him to take advantage of the HCA opportunity.
“Our leaders are big proponents of education,” Huffman said. “I get the best of both worlds: I get to be a nurse, live the school life and also coach other nurses and help them to become leaders.”
In addition to scholarships, students in the program will be able to do internships at hospitals in El Paso and Austin, as well as the HCA Healthcare corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee.
Last Updated on March 06, 2023 at 12:00 AM | Originally published March 06, 2023
By Hannah Hollandbyrd UTEP Marketing and Communications
