At the helm: Richard Lange on 10th anniversary of leading Texas Tech Health El Paso

Richard Lange had never been to El Paso before the Texas Tech University System offered him the presidency of its health sciences center in the Sun City in April 2014. He suspected something was amiss with this job because no interviews had taken place at the campus.

Lange, who marked his 10-year anniversary at the helm of Texas Tech Health El Paso on July 1, recalled the clandestine trip he made to the city with his wife, Bobette, to satisfy his curiosity about the campus and the community.

The couple stayed at a Downtown hotel and mostly wore shorts and T-shirts as they toured the city. One of their stops was at the Texas Tech campus, 5001 El Paso Drive. It consisted of two buildings that housed the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing.

Lange, a practicing cardiologist and veteran administrator, already believed that the El Paso campus offered some of the most innovative medical curricula in the country. He considered the school a blank slate and was excited about the possibilities. As for the community, the couple quickly determined that El Paso was an interesting place to live. Upon their return home to San Antonio, he contacted Lubbock and accepted the job.

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“What we found was a gem,” said Lange, the campus’ founding president and second dean of the medical school. “We fell in love with (El Paso) from the very beginning.”

Since his arrival, the university has added the L. Frederick Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in August 2014, and the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine four years later. Lange pointed out that it was the state’s first new dental school in 50 years.

Also under his watch, the campus started and finished the nursing school building, built a dental clinic, doubled the campus’ research capacity and added classroom space. Work continues to develop a comprehensive cancer center. Additionally, there is the ongoing march to add new undergraduate and graduate degrees and instructional programs. In 2023, the university had an endowment of almost $163 million.

Lange said he is most proud of his institution’s community involvement from philanthropic and legislative support that led to the dental school and cancer center to the money for student scholarships (more than $24 million awarded in the 2022-23 academic year) and to pay for health screenings.

He also mentioned the residents who participate in the many health-related and fun activities conducted at and through the campus. These events include medical and dental checkups, cancer screenings and fireworks shows.

“What’s happened in the 10 years has been nothing short of remarkable,” said Lange, whose previous leadership roles were at UT Health San Antonio, UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Creating, executing a vision

Rick Francis, chairman and CEO of WestStar Bank, was on the TTU Board of Regents in 2014, and chaired the search committee that recommended Lange.

Francis said that Lange distinguished himself as a skilled leader who could balance business, academia and service as a health care provider. His success at every level and his goals for TTHEP convinced the committee that he was the right choice.

“He created a vision for our university, and he has executed on that vision beyond our wildest expectations,” said Francis, who added that Lange and his team had created one of the region’s key economic drivers.

“We’re creating more white-collar jobs at the corner of Alameda and Raynolds than we are in Downtown El Paso,” he said, referring to the major intersection of the university’s campus.

The institution graduated 2,421 students from 2012 through 2023, and 60% of those graduates were Hispanic, according to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Fact Book 2023, Most of those graduates – 56% – came from the nursing school. It was unclear what percentage of those graduates work in El Paso and TTHEP did not have an immediate response to that question.

Francis and other El Paso business and civic leaders described Lange as kind, humble, thoughtful, positive and inspirational.

Woody Hunt, executive chairman of the Board of Directors of Hunt Companies Inc., said Lange had a great professional background, and understood excellence at medical institutions and how to increase quality and quantity of programs. Additionally, he called Lange a skilled communicator.

“He’s one who can get people excited and motivated … because of how enthusiastic he is about what he does,” said Hunt, whose family foundation donated $35 million for the nursing and dental schools.

Tracy Yellen, CEO of the Paso del Norte Community Foundation, called Lange a collaborative leader who builds on the university’s strengths and assets.

“These investments – in facilities, faculty, fellows, residents and students – are growing the number of health care providers to better meet the health care needs of our region,” Yellen said.

The campus has produced 1,384 medical residents from 2019 to 2023. Residents are licensed doctors who have completed medical school and have started to specialize in a particular medical field such as internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry and emergency medicine.

Among the things that make these medical and dental schools unique is that they include Spanish courses so graduates will be able to converse with Spanish-speaking patients. About 13% of the U.S. population are native Spanish speakers. According to Instituto Hispania, about 33% of the U.S. population, or about 138 million people, will speak Spanish by 2050.

Crystal Long, president and CEO of GECU, said she admired Lange’s ability to put an individual or audience at ease with his sense of humor, and how he can maintain his composure under difficult circumstances.

“Nothing phases him as he speaks eloquently over the sound of a train roaring by right next to the (campus),” she said. “The train may shake the building, but nothing shakes Dr. Lange.”

The TTHEP leader was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to an Air Force family. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of North Texas in Denton, his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and his MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

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Changing duties, compensation

Lange’s original TTHEP contract was for three years and had a base salary of $450,000. It included $300,000 in supplemental compensation, $48,000 in housing and vehicle allowances, and a country club membership. The position also came with tenure and a full professorship at the Foster School of Medicine. That means that when he decides to step down as president, he can resume his career as a teacher/researcher.

After his first annual review, his salary was increased to $459,000, with increases of 2% annually through 2018. This second contract included incremental deferred compensation packages leading up to $100,000 in 2018.

Lange signed his most recent three-year contract in September 2023 with a base salary of about $585,770 and the 2% annual increases through 2026. The annual supplemental income was $312,120. Deferred compensation will increase from $210,000 in 2024 to $220,000 in 2026.

Lange’s 2021 performance evaluation included a note from TTU Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell about the importance of the timing and planning for the hiring of a dean for the school of medicine.

His 2023 contract included the agreement that Lange would appoint a new dean for the Foster School of Medicine by Aug. 31. If he does not appoint a new dean by then, Lange should submit a recommendation to Mitchell, who will appoint an interim dean until a permanent replacement is chosen.

Lange said that the recruitment of a new leader for the medical school is a rigorous process that takes time. Because of multiple factors in 2021, to include COVID-19, officials decided to delay the search for a better time.

“That time is now,” Lange said.

Lange said the hiring committee, which includes TTU System representation, is looking for applicants who believe and understand in the school’s mission and will commit to it for the long term. Additionally, the committee developed a process “to ensure we hire a world-class leader for our growing institution, our students and our Borderplex community.”

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Excelling through collaborations

Lange said he took the El Paso job thinking that he would stay about five years. His time at TTHEP is beyond the norm. The American Council on Education published in April 2023 results of a study on college and university presidents based on 2022 data. Among its findings was that the average length of service of institutional leaders was 5.9 years. That was 2.6 years less than in 2006.

Lange said one of the main challenges he faced during the past decade was building strong relationships with the university’s hospital partners. He said the time spent growing and developing those relationships has helped TTHEP and the community.

That was especially true after COVID-19 hit El Paso. He said that he, deans, chairs and faculty would meet with CEOs of the major hospitals weekday mornings to coordinate efforts. He believes that partnership was unique in the state and the country, and led to El Paso being one of the nation’s most vaccinated cities.

“Without our strong hospital partners, we wouldn’t be able to excel,” Lange said.

David Byrd, chief executive officer of the Hospitals of Providence Transmountain campus, said that he appreciated Lange’s efforts to collaborate with the medical community to discuss needs and solutions during the pandemic, and his help to develop programs for medical residents.

“Our relationship is stronger today than it has ever been,” Byrd said. “We have forged a relationship built on trust and accountability as this (teaching hospital) has, at times, been challenging, but anything worth achieving always is.”

What’s next for Lange? Not retirement – yet

While Lange has no plans to retire anytime soon, he has a sense of urgency in what’s next for the university. He shared a few things that are on his five-year plan.

There is the new dental school building, which will allow the expansion of dental specialties in orthodontics, periodontics, and pediatric dentistry. He expects to complete the comprehensive Steve and Nancy Fox Cancer Center that is funded in part by $65 million from the Texas Legislature and $25 million from the Fox family.

Other things on his list are a new clinic building that will be about 180,000 square feet, and Ph.D. programs in nursing and biomedical sciences – a first for TTHEP. He also would like to add more residencies such as one for anesthesia. Programs scheduled to start soon include pulmonary critical care fellowship training.

“It’s just gone by way too fast,” Lange said about his time at TTHEP. “There’s so much more that needs to be done here in our area. I wish I could see it all get done.”

Disclosure: Richard Lange, Rick Francis, Tracy Yellen and the Woody and Gale Hunt Family Foundation are financial supporters of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters’ journalism. 

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Richard Lange leads Texas Tech Health El Paso for ten years