Message from the Chair
In January 2020, the Bobby R. Alford Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery was full of positives. The Department was settling into its new 26,000 square foot clinical and administrative space on the fifth floor of the Jamail Specialty Care Center on the Baylor College of Medicine McNair Campus. The private adult practice formerly known as the Faculty Group Practice was rebranded to Baylor Medicine. Our new faculty recruits were all on board providing care to patients and infusing new energy into our educational programs. We were accelerating the growth of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery service line at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Baylor's primary private adult teaching hospital which had undergone an almost miraculous transformation under new leadership in 2019.
Then, in early March 2020, the first COVID-19 patient was admitted to a Texas Medical Center hospital and our daily routines have been altered in ways we could not have imagined only a few months previously. While our providers and staff have remained available and continue to care for patients throughout our affiliated hospital system, we have had to re-engineer our clinics and operating theaters to deal with the threats that COVID-19 poses to our patients and staff. We have rededicated ourselves to providing high quality care to our patients in a clean and safe environment. Our commitment to ensuring the safety of our patients without compromising the quality of care we offer is stronger than ever.
Although the pandemic has necessitated numerous changes in the way we interface with patients and one another, it has not deterred us from caring for patients, educating our learners or serving our community. The entire team of healthcare providers at Baylor ENT are committed to making people’s lives Better through patient care, research, education, and service.
Donald T. Donovan, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Olga Keith Wiess Professor and Chair
Bobby R. Alford Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
