Minds & Medicine Campaign Update: McNair Campus gets First Tenants

Baylor College of Medicine's $1 billion Best Minds Best Medicine Campaign has passed a major milestone: occupants have moved into the first building on the College's new McNair Campus.

The Medical Building, which is located on the same parcel of land where BCM's new Clinic and Hospital is being built, is now home to the Ambulatory Surgery Center for outpatient procedures, as well as the new Eye Clinic of BCM's Department of Ophthalmology and the offices of the Retina Research Foundation. Together, they occupy four of the facility's six floors.

The building has drawn significant support from many longtime supporters of the Department of Ophthalmology. The Hamill Foundation, for example, recently gave the College $500,000 toward the building's construction. That gift, noted Tom Brown, the Foundation's Grant Director, "is the biggest single check we've ever written to any grant recipient in the history of the Foundation."
One of the driving forces behind the design of the Medical Building is BCM's desire to provide the highest quality personalized care alongside the most patient-friendly amenities available. The Ambulatory Surgery Center, for instance, includes state-of-the-art diagnostic and operating rooms, comfortable recovery areas and patient education and financial counseling centers.

For the Eye Clinic in particular, many of the improvements made possible by the new building are achieved simply by providing it with much-needed additional space, said Dan B. Jones, M.D., Sid W. Richardson Professor, Distinguished Service Professor and Margarett Root Brown Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. Through the move, the Department's clinical space has increased from 19,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet. This extra space, said Jones, allows the Department to locate all of its adult clinical efforts under one roof. Before, these clinical practices were housed at two separate sites, while outpatient surgical procedures took place at three, and sometimes even four, locations. Placing all these services at the Medical Building will simplify patient scheduling and provide patients with a more customer-friendly experience.

"If patients need to see a cataract surgeon and a retina doctor, they can do it in one place instead of having to coordinate schedules between two buildings," said Jones. "The move will also give us access to the ambulatory surgical suites on the first floor. So a patient can come in for a pre-operation evaluation, and then come back to a familiar site for surgery the next day."

One of the driving forces behind the design of the Medical Building is BCM's desire to provide the highest quality personalized care alongside the most patient-friendly amenities available.

Indeed, The William Stamps Farish Fund, which recently made a significant donation to support research and patient care in the building, sees convenience as one of the facility's major benefits. According to a Fund representative, the fact that patients are able to access the Medical Building without having to drive through the often-congested streets in the middle of the Texas Medical Center and patients' access to surface parking is one of the building's best features.

In addition to making a visit to the Eye Clinic more hassle-free, the extra space also will allow the Department to expand its clinical faculty. Prior to the move, Jones said, the Department was unable to add clinical faculty because there was simply no place for them to practice, and existing clinical faculty members were unable to grow their practices.

Now with the expansion, the Department plans to bring in a total of 11 new faculty members over the next five years. Many of these, Jones noted, will work in subspecialty clinics housed in the Medical Building that focus on specific eye conditions, including areas dedicated to retinal diseases, glaucoma, ocular genetics, cataract, refractive errors, corneal diseases, neuroophthalmological disorders and orbital and eyelid tumors. The facilities include the Cataract and Refractive Surgery Center, Ocular Surface Clinical Center, Corneal Surgery Center, Glaucoma Center, Clinical Research Unit and Contact Lens Clinic, including fitting for the Boston Ocular Surface Prosthesis.

patient Al Caldwell receives eye examination from M. Bowes Hamill, M.D.

Opening day: November 4, 2008, marked the day BCM's new Medical Building opened its doors to patients like Al Caldwell, who saw M. Bowes Hamill, M.D., Associate Professor of Ophthalmology.

These subspecialty clinics and the faculty who will staff them, Jones added, will not only improve care, but also will provide more training opportunities for residents and fellows and will allow the Department to conduct more translational research, such as clinical trials with new medications and surgical techniques.

According to The Hamill Foundation's Brown, the research being carried out in the Ophthalmology Department, along with the quality of patient care and easy access, was the primary factor in the Foundation's gift to the building fund. "It was the quality of the research under the leadership of Danny Jones. We've known these people for more than a decade. We really appreciate the quality of the work they do. Combine that with excellent patient care, a good location and easy parking, and the Medical Building will be an excellent asset for Houston."

Ophthalmology Philanthropy Provided Key Assistance

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Development Briefs

Volume 4, Issue 3, Winter 2008


	Minds & Medicine Campaign Update: McNair Campus gets First Tenants Ophthalmology Philanthropy Provided Key Assistance by Toby Weber Baylor College of Medicine's $1 billion Best Minds Best Medicine Campaign has passed a major milestone: occupants have moved into the first building on the College's new McNair Campus. The Medical Building, which is located on the same parcel of land where BCM's new Clinic and Hospital is being built, is now home to the Ambulatory Surgery Center for outpatient procedures, as well as the new Eye Clinic of BCM's Department of Ophthalmology and the offices of the Retina Research Foundation. Together, they occupy four of the facility's six floors. The building has drawn significant support from many longtime supporters of the Department of Ophthalmology. The Hamill Foundation, for example, recently gave the College $500,000 toward the building's construction. That gift, noted Tom Brown, the Foundation's Grant Director, "is the biggest single check we've ever written to any grant recipient in the history of the Foundation." One of the driving forces behind the design of the Medical Building is BCM's desire to provide the highest quality personalized care alongside the most patient-friendly amenities available. The Ambulatory Surgery Center, for instance, includes state-of-the-art diagnostic and operating rooms, comfortable recovery areas and patient education and financial counseling centers. For the Eye Clinic in particular, many of the improvements made possible by the new building are achieved simply by providing it with much-needed additional space, said Dan B. Jones, M.D., Sid W. Richardson Professor, Distinguished Service Professor and Margarett Root Brown Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. Through the move, the Department's clinical space has increased from 19,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet. This extra space, said Jones, allows the Department to locate all of its adult clinical efforts under one roof. Before, these clinical practices were housed at two separate sites, while outpatient surgical procedures took place at three, and sometimes even four, locations. Placing all these services at the Medical Building will simplify patient scheduling and provide patients with a more customer-friendly experience. "If patients need to see a cataract surgeon and a retina doctor, they can do it in one place instead of having to coordinate schedules between two buildings," said Jones. "The move will also give us access to the ambulatory surgical suites on the first floor. So a patient can come in for a pre-operation evaluation, and then come back to a familiar site for surgery the next day." One of the driving forces behind the design of the Medical Building is BCM's desire to provide the highest quality personalized care alongside the most patient-friendly amenities available. Indeed, The William Stamps Farish Fund, which recently made a significant donation to support research and patient care in the building, sees convenience as one of the facility's major benefits. According to a Fund representative, the fact that patients are able to access the Medical Building without having to drive through the often-congested streets in the middle of the Texas Medical Center and patients' access to surface parking is one of the building's best features. In addition to making a visit to the Eye Clinic more hassle-free, the extra space also will allow the Department to expand its clinical faculty. Prior to the move, Jones said, the Department was unable to add clinical faculty because there was simply no place for them to practice, and existing clinical faculty members were unable to grow their practices. Now with the expansion, the Department plans to bring in a total of 11 new faculty members over the next five years. Many of these, Jones noted, will work in subspecialty clinics housed in the Medical Building that focus on specific eye conditions, including areas dedicated to retinal diseases, glaucoma, ocular genetics, cataract, refractive errors, corneal diseases, neuroophthalmological disorders and orbital and eyelid tumors. The facilities include the Cataract and Refractive Surgery Center, Ocular Surface Clinical Center, Corneal Surgery Center, Glaucoma Center, Clinical Research Unit and Contact Lens Clinic, including fitting for the Boston Ocular Surface Prosthesis. Opening day: November 4, 2008, marked the day BCM's new Medical Building opened its doors to patients like Al Caldwell, who saw M. Bowes Hamill, M.D., Associate Professor of Ophthalmology. These subspecialty clinics and the faculty who will staff them, Jones added, will not only improve care, but also will provide more training opportunities for residents and fellows and will allow the Department to conduct more translational research, such as clinical trials with new medications and surgical techniques. According to The Hamill Foundation's Brown, the research being carried out in the Ophthalmology Department, along with the quality of patient care and easy access, was the primary factor in the Foundation's gift to the building fund. "It was the quality of the research under the leadership of Danny Jones. We've known these people for more than a decade. We really appreciate the quality of the work they do. Combine that with excellent patient care, a good location and easy parking, and the Medical Building will be an excellent asset for Houston."		Search all issues: Features Baylor College of Medicine in Houston: 65 years of Excellence BCM Looks to the Future on the McNair Campus Legacy of Leadership: BCM Icons Set Foundation for the Future 1,000 Genomes Project: Looking for the Differences News O'Malley Receives National Medal of Science Robert Todd Named to Lead BCM's Department of Medicine Roy Huffington Remembered as Bold and Generous Spotlight Following his Passion—One Physician's Journey The Search for Answers When Two Degrees are Better Than One: M.D. - M.P.H. Thomas Street—The Road to Health Perceiving—A new Look at Brain and Behavior Briefs Mind Games Wang Wins NIH Award Genetics Used to Personalize Heart Disease Treatment First Drug for Huntington's Disease Eye Problems from Pain Free Migraines Obesity also Causes Cirrhosis Genetic Insights into Deadly Brain Tumor Made-to-Order Weapon in the Fight Against Childhood Cancer BCM Joins Largest Children's Study Development/Alumni Minds & Medicine Campaign Update: McNair Campus gets First Tenants -- Ophthalmology Philanthropy Provided Key Assistance Gifts Help Restore Sight to Patients with Corneal Damage Alums Start Careers, Life Together at BCM Development Briefs Campaign Reaches Milestone Charitable Gifts Lead to National Recognition Trustee Chuck Watson Makes Unique Gift The Legacy and the Future

	Volume 4, Issue 3, Winter 2008



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