Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and the Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) announced a $12.8 million gift and a new partnership that will bring advanced care to the Permian Basin.

The PSP gift will fund a Permian Basin surgical and sub-specialty resident training program. This new program will recruit surgical and sub-specialty residents to provide general surgery as well as cardiology and gastroenterology in Permian Basin hospitals.

The Permian Basin, on average, needs 18 to 20 surgeons to care for the local population. Currently, the region is home to 14 general surgeons, creating a critical need for advanced care programs.

Our mission is to educate students to become collaborative health care professionals who provide excellent patient care, said Timothy Benton, M.D., regional dean for TTUHSC School of Medicine. Through this partnership with the PSP, our community will now have access to more surgeons, cardiologists, and gastroenterologists right here at home. As our community continues to grow, this collaboration will create a sustainable pipeline of health care delivery.

After evaluating the Permian Basin’s health care needs, we realized we were lacking specialty and sub-specialty physicians,” PSP President and CEO Tracee Bentley said. This program will help grow our own general surgeons and sub-specialty surgeons in hopes that they will remain in our communities for years to come. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has done a fantastic job partnering with local hospitals and clinics throughout the entire Permian Basin to give their students the training and experience they need.

According to a regional health care assessment conducted by The Chartis Group, 27% of Midland/Odessa patients seek higher complexity health care outside of the Permian Basin region. TTUHSC will collaborate with local hospitals to add approximately 15 surgery residents by 2025, four cardiologist fellows by 2023 and four gastroenterology fellows by 2023.