UW Medical Center celebrating 40 years of healing

A photo taken shortly after the hospital opened in 1959 shows Nurse Lavera McCord measuring a newborn.



UW Medical Center is celebrating 40 years of “Hope, Health and Healing” with several anniversary events this week.

Among the highlights of the past four decades are the world’s first long-term kidney dialysis, in 1960; the region’s first heart transplant, in 1985; installation of what is still the only positron emission tomography (PET) scanner in the Northwest, in 1986; the region’s first total knee implant, in 1988; the region’s first liver transplant and first kidney-pancreas transplant, both in 1990; and the region’s first lung transplant for cystic fibrosis, in 1993.

	A photo taken shortly after the hospital opened in 1959 shows Nurse Lavera McCord measuring a newborn.

The medical center opened as University Hospital on May 4, 1959, on the site of the former University golf course. Forty years later, UW Medical Center is widely regarded as one of the nation’s top medical centers, as reflected in surveys of best hospitals, best doctors and nursing excellence, and annual research funding received physicians. It was renamed UW Medical Center 10 years ago to reflect more accurately its broad array of inpatient and outpatient services.

UW Medical Center is the leading provider of highly specialized care and consulting services to physicians in the five-state region known as WWAMI - Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho — served by the UW School of Medicine. In addition, it provides primary care that is easily accessible to more than 250,000 King County residents through a network of neighborhood clinics established by UW Physicians.

University, business and community leaders, alumni and friends of UW Medical Center were invited to an open house and 40^th anniversary reception on Tuesday, May 4. Dr. Paul Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of medicine, and Dr. John Hogness, UW president emeritus and the first medical director of the hospital, spoke, as did UW Regent William Gates and Medical Director Eric Larson.

Former patients whose lives were saved or enhanced as a result of the care they received at UW Medical Center attended the event, along with former faculty and staff members. The patients have shared their stories in a commemorative publication, “A Regional Treasure for 40 Years.”

“This anniversary gives us the opportunity not only to celebrate UW Medical Center’s past, but also to look to the future,” said Robert Muilenburg, executive director. “This year we undertake an extensive modernization effort to better serve obstetrical patients, create a new gene therapy facility for clinical research, and accommodate the adult patients for the Cancer Care Alliance, a new cooperative effort of the UW, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. In addition to providing state-of-the-art cancer care, the Alliance will speed the development of knowledge and treatment of various cancers.

“At UW Medical Center, we remain committed to providing outstanding patient care, responding appropriately to the needs of our patients and the community, and to continued leadership in medical education and research,” said Muilenburg.

On Thursday, there will be a celebration for UWMC employees in Plaza Cafe, complete with music from the ‘50s. On Friday, there will be a lunch special with 1959 prices. All UWMC employees will have buttons with the anniversary logo. ¶