Gifts From
the Heart
Donor generosity brings hope to El Paso’s health care landscape
By Christopher Rosenbluth
The MolinaCares Accord announced a $75,000 gift to help expand access to mental health care in our Borderplex. A portion of the gift matched a $45,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation awarded in 2022 to support the Texas Tech Health El Paso Department of Psychiatry. These contributions totaling $120,000 established “patient navigators” to advocate for patients’ needs and usher them through their course of care.
Navigators obtain patients’ consent to share health care information to help ensure patients follow through with psychiatry care. Navigators also educate patients on the early recognition of symptoms and medication, and help bridge the gap with physicians, behavioral health providers and community services.
“Having a patient navigator is critical for successful treatment; navigators become advocates and trusted partners for their patients,” said Peter Thompson, M.D., M.S., professor and Hunt Family Endowed Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. “They guide patients through what may be an unfamiliar health care system, work to get them into the appropriate clinics for treatment and encourage adherence to prescriptions.”
“Complete health care goes beyond just physical health, and addressing the mental health crisis is a vital step in improving Texans’ overall health and well-being,” said Chris Coffey, plan president of Molina Healthcare of Texas.
MolinaCares and Bank of America
Expand Mental Health Services
Nathaniel Coldwell Honored Through
Support of Cancer and Cardiovascular Research
The Lizanell and Colbert Coldwell Foundation contributed a total of $95,000 in support of three Texas Tech Health El Paso researchers studying treatments that may increase patients’ odds of surviving cancer and cardiovascular disease, two of the leading causes of death in the nation and our Borderplex.
The event announcing these gifts served as a celebration of the late Colbert Nathaniel Coldwell, an El Paso lawyer and business leader, and his legacy of service and dedication to our community. Colbert Nathaniel Coldwell was the nephew of Lizanell and Colbert Coldwell.
“Colbert exemplified the commitment to his family and their legacy with his leadership,” said Annette Cordova Hoy, M.D., a Coldwell Foundation trustee. “Colbert felt that however big or small the award to the grantee was, it was advancing the level of the community’s research. These grants have the potential to impact many.”
Steve Ortega’s Gift
Opens Doors for Female
Physicians and Dentists
El Paso attorney and former city council member Steve Ortega donated $50,000 to student scholarships for women pursuing degrees at the Foster School of Medicine and Hunt School of Dental Medicine. Texas Tech Health El Paso matched the gift, for a total of $100,000.
The Aurora Red Medical Scholarship and Maria Olivina Ortega Dental Scholarship – named in honor of Ortega’s grandmothers – aim to support residents of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.
“Finances shouldn’t be a barrier to education,” Ortega said. “My grandmothers were constrained by finances and gender, which limited their career choices. Today, women represent the next generation of health care professionals for our community.”
Dental Patient Funds
Get Major Boost
In March, Encanto Dental Group gifted $25,000 to the Hunt School of Dental Medicine’s Dental Patient Fund. The fund provides financial assistance to patients in underserved communities who are unable to afford care. In honor of Encanto’s gift, a state-of-the-art surgical suite in the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic was named after the business.
A fund to provide dental care for adults age 55 and older in our region was created in May, thanks to a $10,000 gift from the Carl C. Anderson and Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation. The generosity didn’t stop there: Harold Hahn, chairman of Rocky Mountain Mortgage Co., and his wife, Beth, matched the donation, resulting in a total of $20,000 for The Anderson Charitable Foundation Senior Dental Fund. Adolpho and Debbie Telles, El Paso community leaders, were also moved by the fund’s purpose and contributed $7,000 to further its impact.
In November, El Paso-based Marathon Petroleum continued its support of the Dental Patient Fund with a $50,000 gift that will help expand the fund’s outreach to area families who may not have the resources for quality dental care. The fund focuses on residents in the 79901 and 79905 ZIP codes, in the Central El Paso neighborhoods around Texas Tech Health El Paso and Marathon Petroleum’s refinery. Marathon Petroleum established the fund in 2021 with a $30,000 gift, and the company is pleased to see others contributing to build up the fund to serve El Paso.
Spier Family Inspires Giving
When Thomas Spier, D.D.S., immigrated from the Netherlands to the United States in 1952, he had already lived a remarkable life. As a child, he had survived a World War II Nazi concentration camp.
Inspired by Dr. Spier’s life and dental career, his family and friends contributed over $100,000 to the Spier Family Dental Scholarship Fund for the Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
Moved by this generosity, Dr. Spier and his wife, Hendrika, contributed an additional $10,000 to the fund, which will give priority to dental students from New Mexico, the Spiers’ home state.
In honor of their gift, Texas Tech Health El Paso established the Hendrika and Thomas Spier, D.D.S, Family Dental Surgical Wing in the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic.
