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Regents approve new look for children’s and women’s hospital>
Two decades ago, The Oprah Winfrey Show was new and the top-grossing films were “Top Gun,” “Crocodile Dundee” and “Platoon.” Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and Elton John sang “That’s What Friends Are For,” and the Food and Drug Administration approved the first genetically engineered vaccine for hepatitis B.
Biotechnology was revving up, and medical science was becoming more complicated.
It also was 1986 when the entity known as the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers (UMHHC) was formed, with the opening of a new hospital and outpatient building. After 10 years of planning and at a cost of $285 million, the new University Hospital replaced the 61-year-old building known as “Old Main” and became the site for all adult inpatients.
On Feb. 14, 1986, Old Main’s last 400 patients and approximately 5,000 faculty and staff members moved to the new 11-story University Hospital. The adjacent A. Alfred Taubman Health Care Center, with room for dozens of outpatient clinics, also opened, signaling the trend toward more outpatient care.
“The opening of the University Hospital and Taubman Center 20 years ago was a historic moment in the history of the U-M Health System (UMHS) and in shaping the achievements of the Hospitals and Health Centers during the following two decades,” says Douglas Strong, interim chief executive officer for UMHHC and UMHS associate vice president for finance and strategy. “This investment was a key factor in building the reputation, success and financial stability that we currently enjoy.”
In the two decades since, UMHS has continued to expand facilities and services to meet demand for its nationally recognized medical care, research and education with the following:
• In 1990 UMHHC integrated services for children and women and opened 221,000 square feet of new space adjacent to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital.
• In 1997, an $88-million clinical and research facility housing the Comprehensive Cancer Center and Geriatrics Center opened.
• In 2001, the National Institutes of Health awarded Medical School researchers a record $203 million and plans were unveiled for a new Biomedical Science Research Building. Last week, the first scientists began moving their laboratories into the 470,000-square-foot facility.
• Also in 2001, UMHS established the nation’s first comprehensive Depression Center, which will move into its new clinical, research and education facility—the Rachel Upjohn Building—this fall, along with outpatient mental health and substance abuse clinics.
• In 2003, ground was broken at the Old Main site for the 350,000-square-foot Cardiovascular Center, where patients will receive start-to-finish heart and vascular care beginning in mid-2007.
A campaign is under way to raise funds for a new children’s and women’s hospital to open in 2011 (see related story). A new facility for outpatient surgery and medical procedures at the East Ann Arbor Medical Campus at Plymouth and Earhart Roads is planned for a spring opening.
Kellogg Eye Center recently received approval to build an expansion that will house its clinics, as well as the Brehm Center for Type 1 Diabetes Research and Analysis.
