The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Chancellor Steve Schwab, MD, commended partners Methodist University Hospital during a dedication ceremony held December 12 of their nearly completed $275 million Shorb Tower. The dedication was part of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s year-long centennial celebration.
“Methodist has created an environment of cutting edge patient care, a robust educational environment, and a strong home for cutting edge research,” said Dr. Schwab, at the event. “We would like to thank the Methodist Board for this tremendous new advance.”
Shorb Tower, which began construction in 2016, will house 450,000 square feet of state-of-the-art technology, elevating medical care services for the Mid-South community.
Shorb Tower, named after retired Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare CEO Gary Shorb, will house transplant, cardiology, blood and marrow transplant, and oncology services while simultaneously consolidating inpatient and outpatient services in one location.
Other highlights of Shorb Tower include 18 operating rooms, which include three fully dedicated for transplants; a rooftop garden and reflection room; and easy access to 700 parking spaces for patients and their families. In addition the newly constructed building is focused on environmental sustainability and is pursuing an LEED certification.
“As the major academic campus and principle teaching hospital of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, it is important that we are pioneering advances in medical care. Shorb Tower was designed to do exactly that,” said Roland Cruickshank, president, Methodist University Hospital, in a press release from Methodist University Hospital. “A facility such as this sets the stage for us to recruit the very best medical talent to join our already outstanding medical staff and caregivers.”
The completion of Shorb Tower in spring of 2019 will welcome new educational opportunities for the 3,200 students, 1,400 residents, and almost 2,000 faculty from UTHSC who teach and train at the hospital.
“One of the things people don’t know is that we do 60 to 70 percent of our education not on our beautiful home Memphis campus, but on our partner, academic core teaching hospitals. We train surgeons, we train obstetricians. They don’t train on our campus, they train at our partner hospitals,” Dr. Schwab said. “Our goal is to create here at Methodist University Hospital that same Top 20 national level of excellence that we created over ten years at the nationally ranked Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. To create that cutting edge national excellence, we must bring the world’s best physicians, the best nurses, the best pharmacists to Memphis. We must drive cutting edge care at the same time we drive the state’s educational efforts. We do that one program at a time.”