Voters in the Central Health district tonight approved Proposition 1, which will raise revenue to support health care services. The vote will allow The University of Texas at Austin to establish a medical school.
Following is a statement from University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers on the vote:
“This is a historic night for Austinites, the UT community and world-changing medical research. I’m thrilled and grateful that Central Health residents voted to invest in health care and to help us move ahead with a UT Austin medical school.
“I can’t offer enough praise for Sen. Kirk Watson, a true friend of UT who has dedicated himself to improving health care in Central Texas. I also want to thank the UT System Board of Regents for committing the resources that are crucial to a new medical school.
“Now that the vote is over, the hard work of building a medical school begins. Provost Steve Leslie and I will appoint a committee of faculty members and health care officials to help recruit an inaugural dean, choose a location for the school and finalize details with Central Health, Seton and other partners. We hope to have a new medical school building and teaching hospital in place for our first class of 50 students in 2015.”
