University ofCalifornia, Davis, Medical Center

University of California, Davis Medical Center

Affiliation ofthe Sacramento County Hospital with the UniversityofCalifornia,Davis,SchoolofMedicinewasagreed uponin 1966.TheCountyandtheUniversitysharedcostsand theschoolstartedfunctioningwith48students onSeptember 23,1968. On October 25, the hospital's name was changed to Sacramento Medical Center. OnJuly 1,1973, the University ofCaliforniapurchasedthehospital anditbecametheteachingsitefor the UC Davis School ofMedicine. In 1978, it was renamedtheUniversityofCalifornia,Davis,MedicalCenter, Sacramento.

When the University purchased the facility in 1973, it acquiredahospitalwithseveralbuildingsthatwereseismically deficient and had a total square footage that was grossly inadequate tomeetitspatientcare,educational,andresearch responsibilities. By 1993, the University of California had investedover$200millionincapitalimprovementstochange the face ofthe medical center.

An inpatientacutecare tower was completedin 1982 to replaceportionsoftheNorth/South wingofthemainhospital. The Emergency Department and Primary Care Center were remodeledandexpanded.Anewadministrativesupportfacilitywascompleted.TheNorth/Southwingofthemainhospital underwent m^gor restoration for patient care, administrative, and academic support services. As the medical campus for the School ofMedicine, the UC Davis Medical Center's programs quickly expanded. It was designated the region's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Bum Center, and Poison Control Center.

In 1981, the hospital opened the Center ofAging and Health, the first geriatric outpatient service to be part of a university teachinghospital.

In 1984, the Department of Otolaryngology developed the world’sfirstartificial tongue, designedto improvespeech in tongue cancer patients. The same year, a Diagnostic Molecular Pathology Laboratory was set up to detect abnormal genes that cause birth defects, such as sickle cell anemia. Alongwithdiagnosingprenatalgeneticdisorders, thelaboratory aids in matching donor organs to transplant recipients.

Life Flightmedical airambulance alsobegan operating from theMedical Centerin 1984. By 1986, UC DavisMedical

University ofCalifornia, Davis, Medical Center

Center had been designated a Level 1 Regional Trauma Center, servingthe area's most critically ill and injured.

By 1987, over 100 outpatient specialty clinics at the hospital were serving the Sacramento Valley and Northern Californiaregion.Toguidecontinuinggrowth,theUniversity ofCaliforniaRegents adopted a 20-year, long-range developmentplan in 1989.

In 1990thehospitalanditsrelatedservicesqualifiedfor membershipintheNationalAssociation ofChildren's HospitalsandRelatedInstitutions(NACHRI),andthehospitalwas designated as a "children's hospital within a hospital." As a result, the Shriners organization announced that a new 80- bed hospital for children with burns, orthopaedic problems and spinal-cord injuries wouldbebuiltadjacentto theMedical Center.

That sameyear, the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy wasperformedbyUCDavis surgeons—thefirstofmanynew laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures performed at UC Davis Medical Center.

In 1991, the UC Davis Cancer Center opened, consolidating many ofthe hospital's diverse cancer programs into one outpatient treatmentcenter.

By 1993, UC Davis MedicalCenterhad grown to a 485bed, acuteandspecialtycarehospitalwith 20,626admissions a year. Over 150 specialty clinics logged 289,675 outpatient visits. The Medical Center staffnumbered 4,224 employees, including 1, 615 nurses, in addition to 383 physicians. Another 446 physicians worked part-time or volunteered services at UC Davis Medical Center. The hospital had 38 accredited residency and internship programs and a total of 603 residents and interns.

Planningandconstructioncontinuesforarehabilitation hospital, expanded radiology services, and two new laboratory and research buildings.