Preparations in high gear for Health Sciences Open House

Planners and exhibitors are busy this month preparing for Health Sciences Open House 2000, set for Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8. The free public event will bring thousands of visitors to the Health Sciences Center to see 85 exhibits, many of them interactive.

Most high school groups are being scheduled on Friday from morning through mid-afternoon, according to Sharon Brown, Open House coordinator in Health Sciences/Medical Affairs News and Community Relations. Many of these will arrive in buses and special parking arrangements have been made for them. Members of the UW community and the general public will make up most of the visitors late Friday afternoon and during the day Saturday.

Hours for the Open House are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Exhibits will be staffed at all of these times.

Brown noted one major change in the tour route this year: the area around the I-Court Rotunda will replace the 5th floor of the T wing as an exhibit space. About 20 exhibits will be located there.

“I think everyone will be pleased with the space and light around the Rotunda,” Brown said. “This space will also give us a new entrance to the tour route.”

The food service near the Rotunda and the eating tables directly under the Rotunda will remain open as usual on Friday, she added.

The other four exhibit areas will be the same ones used in recent Open House events: the UW Medical Center Lobby, the Health Sciences Lobby, 4th floor T-wing and 4th floor B-wing. The career circuit, with 15 exhibits on careers in health sciences and health professions education, will be in the 4th floor T-wing area. Meetings for exhibitors assigned to each area will be held soon, Brown said, and exhibitors will be notified about these by e-mail.

Offices and laboratories located along and near the tour route should expect an increase in hallway traffic and noise, particularly on Friday.

An Open House Hotline, with information on parking and entrances, as well as exhibits, is now operating at (206) 543-4767. Open House information is also available at the Web site
http://depts.washington.edu/hsnews/