MCALLEN, Texas - Texas A&M University held a groundbreaking ceremony for their latest expansion project – the Texas A&M Health Nursing Education and Research Building.
The $49.9 million facility, located within the college’s Higher Education Center in McAllen, will be a hub for the school’s nursing, veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences and research programs and outreach efforts. The 61,000-square-foot construction will include four nursing classrooms, a clinical simulation center, a veterinary clinic and research laboratory, and study areas for students. It is expected to be complete by the spring of 2026.
“This new building will allow us to offer additional opportunities for our immensely talented friends in South Texas, which in turn will allow us to push further in fulfilling critical industry needs in the region,” said Manny Vela, associate vice president and chief operating officer at the Texas A&M Higher Education Center.
Vela, who was master of ceremonies for the event, thanked everyone for their contributions and apologized for Texas A&M University Chancellor John Sharp’s unavoidable absence, assuring his enthusiasm and unwavering support for the project.
“What you see is the fruit of enormous labor – the labor of many folks who are absolutely committed to the future of the Rio Grande Valley,” said Vela. “…I’ve known Chancellor Sharp for about 30 years, and I’ve heard him say the following many times over: ‘As goes the Rio Grande Valley will go Texas, and as goes Texas will go the United States of America’.”
In addition to Texas A&M faculty and staff, elected officials and institutional leaders came out to celebrate the momentous occasion. State Sen. Juan ‘Chuy' Hinojosa acknowledged their continued efforts to make career pathways for Valley’s students.
“We believe truly in education, making sure all of us, all our children – anybody – that wants to learn, that wants to find and get an education, that needs the training to be able to get a job and find work, that we provide them that opportunity,” said Hinojosa.
The lawmaker, who helped secure funding for the Higher Education Center and the nursing and research extension, also previewed what he and other state leaders have on their agenda to further address the growing nursing shortage.
“This coming session, we’re looking to push and fund at least $150 million to be closer to equal to the funding that we provide for residencies here in the state of Texas of over $200 million,” said Hinojosa. “Because nurses are just as important as our doctors.”
Dr. Indra Reddy, interim chief operating officer and senior vice president of Texas A&M Health, spoke more in-depth about the nursing program, which will allow students to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing through a two-year, five-semester course of study. The program will be identical to that offered at the university’s main College Station campus, which will open the door for many students in the region.
“The health care leaders of the Valley have spoken,” said Reddy. “The need for nursing is abundantly clear. The students of the Valley deserve educational opportunities, … and our mission in this particular area is to compliment other higher education programs in the region to address the needs collectively and collaboratively.”
Reddy says that the college estimates the extension will add 100 nurses annually to the workforce.
Texas A&M University President Ret. Gen. Mark A. Welsh III highlighted the veterinarian and research programs that will also be housed in the Nursing Education and Research Building. He pointed to Texas A&M University’s influence in the region for over 100 years, such as their efforts to eradicate disease in cattle and citrus crops.
“A&M’s been down here a long time in the agricultural arena, has been down here doing veterinary medicine and research, and this is going to allow us to expand that and expand our ability to build partnerships in the region,” said Welsh.
“The research’s that being done in veterinarian medicine now is spectacular, and I think you know that 75 to 100 percent of the emerging or reemerging diseases in our country and in our state are zoonotic – they transition from animals to humans. This research is absolutely critical to the safety of future populations, and this is going to allow us to do more of that work.”
To the students present in the audience and to those of the future, Welsh ended his speech with a few words of encouragement.
“All of us believe in it because we believe in you,” said Welsh. “We know what you’re going to do. You’re going to change the world because that’s what Aggies do.”
Mike Hernandez, member of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, agreed.
“This is just the beginning,” said Hernandez. “The vision for this place is to become a center of excellence for the Texas A&M University System … I think it’s proven that Texas A&M loves the Valley and that we’re going to do everything we can to make it as successful as possible.”
