UT Health San Antonio has cut the ribbon on its Center for Excellence in Diabetes, a new multidisciplinary clinic and research hub aimed at slowing the city’s diabetes crisis before it gets even worse. University leaders, clinicians, and community supporters packed the opening on Monday, with San Antonio Spurs executive R.C. Buford among those on hand. The center folds outpatient care, prevention programming, and clinical trials into a single, coordinated operation under one roof.
At the inauguration, Dr. Robert Hromas did not sugarcoat the challenge. “All the easy things in diabetes are already done,” he said, calling for cross-discipline collaboration to tackle what comes next. Founding director Dr. Carolina Solis-Herrera told the crowd the clinic is already seeing about 1,000 patients a month and is involved in a dozen ongoing clinical trials, details first reported by the San Antonio Report.
Funding and leadership
UT Health San Antonio named Dr. Solis-Herrera the center’s founding director in a university announcement last year, positioning an experienced clinician-scientist to drive the program from day one. The initiative grew out of a major Whitacre family gift that helped seed the broader metabolic-health effort. The Whitacres committed $5 million toward metabolic-health research and another $2 million to related campus priorities, according to a university release shared on EurekAlert.
Why San Antonio needs it
Diabetes remains a full-blown public health crisis. The CDC estimates about 40.1 million Americans had diabetes in 2023. In Bexar County, the burden is heavier: University Health reports that roughly 15% of local adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, a rate that outpaces both state and national averages. That combination of high need and stubborn health disparities helps explain why an academic center focused on both day-to-day care and clinical trials is taking root in San Antonio.
Partnerships and care on the ground
The new center is set to work alongside existing regional efforts, including the Texas Diabetes Institute, and to coordinate clinical trials with hospital partners. University Health, which opened a Limb Salvage Clinic at the Texas Diabetes Institute to prevent diabetes-related amputations, has stressed the importance of a team-based model. “We are assembling some of the best clinicians in the country to attack an enormous medical need in South Texas,” Dr. Anand Prasad said in the hospital’s news release.
The ribbon-cutting comes at a tense moment for prevention work. Metro Health has warned its Diabetes Prevention and Control Program will lose about 72% of its funding as federal Medicaid support expires, a shortfall that makes expanded university and hospital programs even more critical, the San Antonio Report notes. Buford, who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for decades, said he was honored to share his journey and support the university’s programming as the center ramps up services.
