Important Milestones in UTHCT History

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2009

• Ground is broken for UTHSCT’s new $67 million, 81,000 square-foot Academic Center. The three-story building will house a new cancer center on the first floor. It will have classrooms for an expanded Family Medicine Residency Program, a new Watson W. Wise Medical Research Library, and a large auditorium on the second and third floors.
• A study by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, finds that UTHSCT is among the top 10 percent of hospitals in the nation for pulmonary care. UTHSCT receives the 2010 Pulmonary Care Excellence Award, as well as Five-Star Ratings for treatment of pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. It also receives the 2009/2010 Outstanding Patient Experience Award, placing it in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for providing exemplary service to patients.
• UTHSCT is recognized – for the third time in four years – for its care of patients with coronary artery disease and heart failure by the AHA/ASAs “Get With the Guidelines” program. UTHSCT is one of just 15 Texas hospitals and 106 U.S. hospitals to receive the Gold Award from the AHA/ASA in coronary artery disease.
• The NIH awards UTHSCT a five-year, $3.25 million grant to determine if showing people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) how to participate in pulmonary rehabilitation in their own home will improve their health and quality of life.

2008

• The UT System Board of Regents approves the use of “science” in the institution’s name. It now officially becomes The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.
• UTHSCT receives patients evacuated from UTMB’s hospital in Galveston as Hurricane Ike bears down on the Texas Gulf Coast. Because of the devastation, some of these very ill patients remain at UTHSCT for several weeks. Family Medicine physicians and residents again provide medical care for evacuees in Tyler’s emergency shelters.
• The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association again recognizes UTHSCT for its care of cardiac and stroke patients. It is one of only 14 hospitals in Texas and 184 hospitals in the nation to receive the Silver Award from the AHA/ASA in coronary artery disease.
• The Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at UTHSCT celebrates its 15th anniversary. The Texas Legislature established it in 1993 to conduct research into infectious diseases of the lung and to provide a free infectious disease telephone consulting service to Texas physicians and health care agencies.

2006

• The new 10,000-square-foot University Health Clinic opens near the corner of University Boulevard and Patriot Drive on the University of Texas at Tyler campus. It is open to the public, offering services in family medicine, allergy care, and rheumatology, with on-site radiology and lab services. In addition, the UT Tyler Student Health Clinic serves the health care needs of UT Tyler students.
• UTHSCT is one of just 118 hospitals in the United States to be recognized for its care of cardiac and stroke patients by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Get With the Guidelines” program. UTHSCT receives the program’s Performance Achievement Award for Coronary Artery Disease.

2005

• The new, $11.3 million wing of the Center for Biomedical Research opens, adding 30,000 feet of lab and office space to the existing building.
• The 79th Texas Legislature authorizes UTHSCT to award academic degrees.
• The Riter Center for Advanced Medicine is dedicated in memory of A.W. “Dub” Riter, a former UT System regent and longtime board member and supporter of UTHSCT.
• UTHSCT receives the largest government-funded research grant in its history: almost $7.8 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to study lung scarring.
• UTHSCT is part of the statewide response to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Family medicine physicians and residents provide medical care to hurricane evacuees staying in Tyler emergency shelters. UTHSCT takes care of patients evacuated from The University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston.

2004

• The $2.2 million Public Health Laboratory of East Texas, a joint project of UTHSCT and the Texas Department of Health, opens on the UTHSCT campus. Because of special safety and security features, the lab is able to study microbes such as West Nile virus.
• Research funding, much of it from the National Institutes of Health, exceeds $10 million for the first time.

2003

The 78th Texas Legislature names UTHSCT the East Texas Center for Rural Geriatric Studies, allowing it to develop the Center for Healthy Aging and apply for government grants to fund research into the aging process.

2002

Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, is named president of the Health Science Center by The UT System Board of Regents.

1998

The first UTHSCT president is appointed: Ronald F. Garvey, MD, MBA.

1996

The four-story Ambulatory Care Center is completed, with the first two floors finished and the top two floors left unfinished for future expansion.

1995

• An Occupational Medicine Residency Program is approved.
• UTHSCT and Stephen F. Austin State University partner to offer master’s degrees in environmental science and biotechnology.

1987

The $9 million, 71,000-square-foot Center for Biomedical Research is completed.

1986

UTHSCT receives more that $3.5 million in research dollars and is the leading research institution in East Texas.

1985

• The Family Practice Residency Program begins, admitting six physicians. It is the first medical graduate training program in East Texas.
• UTHSCT is designated as a national Cystic Fibrosis Satellite Center.

1984

The Watson W. Wise Medical Research Library is dedicated, the only medical research library in East Texas.

1983

• UTHSCT physicians perform the first open heart surgery in East Texas.
• Allen B. Cohen, MD, a nationally known pulmonologist and lung disease researcher, is named executive associate director of UTHSCT. His charge is to recruit a distinguished scientific team who will conduct both basic and clinical research into lung diseases.

1980

The six-floor patient care annex is completed and open for business, while the first three floors of the older hospital tower are remodeled to house patient care support activities.

1977

The 65th Texas Legislature transfers control of the hospital from the Texas Board of Health to the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System. The regents christen it The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.

1976

$17.3 million in state funds is authorized to expand and renovate the facility.

1971

The 62nd Texas Legislature changes the name to the East Texas Chest Hospital and designates it the primary referral facility in Texas for patient care, education, and research into diseases of the chest.

1970

George Hurst, MD, becomes director of the hospital.

1969

The 61st Texas Legislature gives the hospital authority to develop pilot health care programs for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. An outpatient clinic is organized.

1964

Dr. Hurst is named clinical director of the hospital.

1957

A six-floor, 320-bed hospital tower opens after two years of construction.

1951

The 52nd Texas Legislature renames the facility the East Texas Tuberculosis Hospital.

1949

The hospital begins taking care of the first group of patients with tuberculosis.

1947

Receives its charter from the 50th Texas Legislature as the East Texas Tuberculosis Sanatorium.