The bright orange UT logo unveiled Wednesday, Feb. 25, on exterior signage at the largest and most comprehensive hospital in the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system is a striking symbol of a successful partnership that started more than a decade ago and continues to grow.
That partnership between the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system supports a multidisciplinary collaboration among physicians and clinical teams, and brings the most advanced medical care to patients in the Mid-South.
Members of the UT board of trustees, in Memphis for their winter meeting, joined administrators and dignitaries from Methodist and UTHSC for a luncheon and unveiling of the impressive signage at the main entrance of Methodist University Hospital, which is now Methodist UT Hospital.
“Placing the UT initials on the downtown Methodist hospital building and reframing the name as Methodist UT Hospital reflects the convergence of the UTHSC and Methodist missions and visions,” said UTHSC Chancellor Steve Schwab, MD. It is the first time in more than a decade that the UT initials appear on a Memphis hospital.
More than 300 physicians are currently in training in Methodist facilities, and more than 1,865 medical and surgical specialists have been trained in these locations since the partnership began. Methodist UT and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, the major facilities in the hospital system, are core teaching hospitals of UTHSC, along with five other core teaching partners across the state – Regional One Health and the VA Medical Center in Memphis, the UT Medical Center in Knoxville, Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, and the Saint Thomas Health system in Nashville.
Faculty members from UTHSC make up a significant complement of the physicians and clinicians who provide care at Methodist UT Hospital while teaching the next generation of health care professionals in the clinical and hospital setting. The hospital is also home to UT Methodist Physicians, an academic physician practice group created in 2013 as an outgrowth of the partnership between the university and the hospital.
Chancellor Schwab welcomed the guests and praised the collaborative effort, which bolsters recruitment of top-quality physicians, fosters clinical research, and provides venues to train UTHSC students. All of these will boost national rankings for both entities and further their commitments to provide world-class care for all.
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare CEO Gary Shorb; Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare President and COO Michael Ugwueke, MPH, DHA, FACHE; and Methodist UT Hospital CEO Jeff Liebman, DDM, MBA, addressed the group before the unveiling, offering statistics that reflect the success of the partnership and its benefits to both entities. In 2014, there were 165 UT-affiliated attending MDs at Methodist UT Hospital, accounting for 7,387 inpatient admissions and 2,360 inpatient surgeries. The intent is to continue to grow those numbers.
Plans are also under way to establish or expand residencies and fellowships in oncology and emergency medicine. Areas of expertise, including transplant medicine, stroke and neurological care, oncology, radiology, and thoracic surgery, have flourished as the partnership has grown.
New signage that includes the UT brand is planned throughout the hospital at a cost of about $600,000.