{"id":1963,"date":"2025-04-25T10:56:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T15:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/?p=1963"},"modified":"2025-05-20T10:57:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T15:57:53","slug":"texas-house-of-representatives-passes-hb-125-for-tarleton-states-college-of-osteopathic-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/2025\/04\/25\/texas-house-of-representatives-passes-hb-125-for-tarleton-states-college-of-osteopathic-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas House of Representatives Passes HB 125 for Tarleton State\u2019s College of Osteopathic Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Purple<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

House Bill 125, legislation supporting Tarleton State University\u2019s proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, passed the Texas House of Representatives on Friday with resounding approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the passage, the bill now advances to the Texas Senate for further consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe overwhelming support from the Texas House of Representatives has been incredible,\u201d said Tarleton State President Dr. James Hurley. \u201cOur medical school will ensure that more Texans have an opportunity to stay and serve our state. I\u2019m grateful to Representative Shelby Slawson (District 59) for filing this bill and her unwavering support of all things Tarleton State. I\u2019m also thankful for House Speaker Dustin Burrows, the Higher Education Committee led by Chairman Terry Wilson and all the legislators in Austin who have helped champion for the future of rural healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine reflects Tarleton State\u2019s mission to address critical disparities in healthcare access and quality in rural and medically underserved communities. Texas ranks 47th in the nation for patient-to-physician ratio, with just 13 physicians per 10,000 residents in rural areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Texas\u2019 fastest-growing universities, Tarleton State has students from 228 of the state\u2019s 254 counties, ranking third among Texas institutions for statewide representation. Of the nearly 18,000 students at Tarleton, over 97% hail from the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A formal feasibility study conducted by Tripp Umbach affirmed the university\u2019s position to meeting the evolving healthcare needs of the state through a rural-focused osteopathic medical program. The study highlighted the rising demand for physicians across Texas, driven by population growth and an aging demographic. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20% of Texas residents will be 60 or older by 2030, and the number of residents aged 65 and older is projected to more than double to 8.3 million by 2050, further increasing healthcare demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 3, Dr. Elizabeth Palmarozzi, DO, FACOFP, was named Founding Dean of Tarleton State\u2019s proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine. In her role, she will lead the accreditation process, oversee curriculum development, recruit faculty and staff, and work closely with healthcare partners to secure commitments for clinical placements and residencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The College of Osteopathic Medicine at Tarleton State would support class sizes of up to 150 students and stimulate regional economic growth and job creation while enhancing healthcare access. The feasibility study projects that by 2040, as many as 360 new physicians could enter the Texas workforce through the program, generating nearly $1 billion in statewide economic impact and delivering an estimated $259.2 million in healthcare cost savings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House Bill 125, legislation supporting Tarleton State University\u2019s proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, passed the Texas House of Representatives on Friday with resounding approval. Following the passage, the bill now …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":19,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,17,14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news","category-strategy","category-thank-you","category-updates"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"brian","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/author\/brian-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2021\/09\/Fall-Campus-Water-Tower_8465-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["In the News<\/a>","Strategy<\/a>","Thank You!<\/a>","Updates<\/a>"],"unlinked":["In the News<\/span>","Strategy<\/span>","Thank You!<\/span>","Updates<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 12 months ago","modified":"Updated 11 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 25, 2025","modified":"Updated on May 20, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 25, 2025 10:56 am","modified":"Updated on May 20, 2025 10:57 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Water tower with Tarleton State University logo, surrounded by autumn trees.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1964,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions\/1964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}