$80 million Health Professions Building coming to Stephenville campus

BY: HAELEY CARPENTER / Digital Media Director

Tarleton State University broke ground on a new Health Professions Building on Jan. 17. 

This building will be a $80 million facility that will open the university to three new degree programs; physical therapy, occupational therapy and physician assistant studies.

Dr. Ramona Parker started by welcoming everyone to the event. She introduced people who were there, including some state legislators and representatives, the mayor of Stephenville and the Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System John Sharp.

Those invited ate lunch before the speeches started.

University President Dr. James Hurley, President of the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Stephenville Claudia Eisenmann and senior kinesiology major Erin Ballard were among those who spoke.

Ballard gave the students perspective of how the new programs are going to benefit Tarleton. She gave her experience of being from a small town and wanting to go into holistic and comprehensive practices in physical therapy.

“These additions mean that students like me, who are from small communities, can get their education, and then go out and give back to communities, like Hico, and increase the health of rural America,” Ballard said.

These three new programs open up more opportunities for students. The current classes are built in a way that they are broad enough to cover everything for every discipline. That means that students can build their classes to cater what they need for their major.

The new building will house more classes that can be specified to the three new interdisciplinaries. Tarleton is a rapidly growing school and this development will allow the school and students to grow and learn by giving more opportunities clinically and in the classroom.

The group then moved outside to the work site where the building will be and actually broke ground. 

Ballard was excited just to have been considered and invited to the event. She got to sit and talk with influential people who care about Tarleton's growth and success.

A professor in the kinesiology program was asked to choose a handful of students and then those students that were willing to speak proved that they could and Ballard was the chosen student.

“I was so completely honored,” Ballard said. “It was truly one of the best experiences of my life.”

Move-in is planned for summer of 2025 and the building is located behind the current Nursing Building on the Stephenville Campus.