Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine - Caduceus Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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acquisition was challenged by a Protes- tant organization that objected to the sale of government land to a Catholic institution. Still, Loyola pursued the project. By 1961 Loyola had already begun what was to be a complete medical center, not just a hospital and medical school. The dental school needed new facilities and would also be located on the new property. There were other buildings planned for the medical center including a motel for families of patients, dormitories and apartments for stu- dents, and an education center. Due to financial and construction problems these buildings were never built. The hospital capacity was to be increased to 451 beds from the 350 planned at the Skokie site. Ground was broken for construction in 1965. The medical school was opened on the new campus in 1967 using building 116 fnear our anatomy labsl. The new medical school facilities attached to the north end of the hospital were functioning by 1968. The early 60's were a convenient time for Loyola to expand its medical programs and buildings. Sputnik was still fresh in the mind of the government, which felt that the U.S. was slipping in its scientific technology. The govern- ment's response to this was to offer grants for upgrading the nation's univer- sities. There was also felt to be a doctor shortage at this time, to the extent that foreign doctors were being imported to meet the U.S. demand. So legislation was passed appropriating money to expand the nation's medical training facilities. The goverment's support as well as the financial support of alumni and faculty helped pay for the new medical center. The new hospital was not without its growing pains. Construction delays forced the cost of the project to rise from 21 to 35 million before any ground was even broken. There was some doubt that the project should continue with these substantial increases. Hines was slow vacating its barracks at the center of the property where the hospital and school were to be built. And in order to avoid further construction costs brought on by delay, construction was begun on the north end of the campus where the first buildings were released by Hines. The dental school is presently located where the hospital was originally going to be built. After the hospital was open, some faults in the design and construction appeared. Examples of these flaws were leaks, an obscurely located front en- 1- ' . ,Ffa , KN: 2493 4 F - Anatomy Lab trance, shortage of elevators and an ER. that cut off entrance to the hospital from the west. Also, the original planners could never have imagined the rapid growth in the number of patients, and the subsequent need for larger facilities. Cardiovascular surgery was so successful that they occupied all the MICU beds as well as all the SICU beds on the second floor. Eventually the MICU had to be moved to makeshift facilities on the seventh floor. The hospital doors were opened in May of 1969, one year late. On its first day, Loyola had only two pa- tients, eight full time medicine faculty, and no house officers. The administra- tion consisted of an acting dean, acting chief of staff, acting vice-president, and a newly arrived hospital director. Dean Barbato, a medical student at the time, was one of the hospital's first patients. After three months, the average daily census was 40, and the hospital was losing 315,000 a day. The Stritch School of Medicine persisted through these lean years, and only became fully self-sup- ported in 1974. The new medical school would go through many changes between opening in 1967 and the present. The size of its class would enlarge by almost 5051 to 120. The percent of women enrolled in Stritch would rise from about 55 in the 50's to 30 'Y in the 70's and 4021 by the mid-80's. 1972 marked the first year of a new three year curriculum tLoyo1a did have a three year course of study during WW II, but changed back to a four year school at the end of the war.J This change from four to three years was prompted by the federal goverment, because there was felt to be a doctor shortage. The government motivated medical schools to go to a three year program by cutting the federal capitation grant, which subsi- dized the cost of educating students, from four years per student to three years. Thirty-two medical schools con- verted to three year programs. By 1980, Loyola had returned to a four year curriculum, as had all other schools with three-year programs. The three year program proved to be too strenuous, with courses crammed together, limited free time, and graduates who were poorly prepared for internship. 1979 was the last year students were admitted to Stritch for the three year program. With the return of a fourth year in 1980, came additional courses in ethics, statistics, and emergency medicine. The majority of clinical rotations from the mid-70's to present were done at Hines V.A. and Loyola. The relationship between the two hospitals became tighter as more Loyola faculty became part of Hines' staff, and many of the residency pro- grams merged Ci.e. surgery, pathology, psychiatryl. St. Francis, Resurrection, and Mercy also continued to offer rota- tions for Stritch students during these years. After construction of the hospital and medical school were completed, the medical center continued to grow. This growth was mainly a response to in- creased utilization of the facilities. Along with the rapidly expanding population in the western suburbs came the increased need for a west side medical center. Also, with easy access from two expressways, Loyola Medical Center was convenient to reach for patients throughout Chica- goland. After several years of providing quality care, Loyola had begun to devel- op a reputation for its high standards, ' 53 -ire

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department, its rating was raised to class A. But, even while Loyola was rated as a class B school its graduates had one of the highest passing rates of the state medical exam of any medical school in the city. The classes in the early years at Loyola and most other medical schools in the country were structured similar to the six year programs that exist today. Students would attend two years of college, and then advance to medical school. By 1910, a medical degree could be obtained after four years of school, each year consisting of eight months of classes. This was a far cry from the two year curriculum of twenty weeks each, that existed in 1877. As with students today, the last two years of training were made up of clinical rotations done at surrounding hospitals. Since there was no official University Hospital, Loyola used many different hospitals during the various eras of its medical program. Some of the hospitals used from 1917 to 1936 included Willard, Columbus, Alex- ian, Oak Park, Mesercordia, and seem- ingly any hospital that had Saint as its first name. Cook County and Mercy were the main hospitals for clinical rotations. Cook County, located across the street, was a nationally famous hospital offering an excellent faculty and patient popula- tion. Loyola students started using Cook in 1930, and would continue to use it into the late 70's. Mercy Hospital, the oldest hospital in the Midwest, was founded in 1850. This hospital had been strongly affiliated with Loyola since 1919, and in 1937, Mercy became the University Hospital of Loyola fthe equivalent of the relationship between Stritch and Foster McGaw Hospital today.l From the late 20's to the late 40's and beyond, funding was the biggest obstacle Loyola faced. The buildings were too small, so in 1925 they were enlarged with a common facade uniting the three buildings that had been CCMS. This was a patchwork job because finan- cial problems prevented proper im- provements. By the end of the 1940,s the financial situation had gotten so bad that the suggestion was made for the school of medicine to be closed. This was when Cardinal Stritch came on the scene. He was approached on these matters for two reasons: the first was that he had long been committed to the idea of a Catholic medical center to serve the people of Chicagog the other was that he was known to be particularly adept at raising funds. The Cardinal became invaluable to the continuation of the Loyola School of Medicine. He offered monetary support, lent his name to an annual fundraising dinner, acted as mediator between Mercy Hospital and Loyola University. But most important- ly, Samuel Stritch was a major propo- nent of building a new medical school for Loyola since the old facilities were quickly becoming outdated. In 1948, the name of the medical school was changed to Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine because of the tremendous support which the school received from the Cardinal. During the l950's, the Sisters of Mercy announced their intention to build a new Mercy Hospital along South Lake Shore Drive. Because of Mercy's affiliation with the Stritch School of Medicine, it seemed suitable to explore the possibility that the new school of medicine might locate adjacent to the new Mercy Hospital, and this hospital would become the principal teaching hospital for the school. Thus began a lengthy series of negotiations in which Mercy and Loyola-Stritch tried to work out details acceptable to both sides in making this cooperation a reality. After several years of discussion, negotiations ceased with the major area of difference being control of the clinical departments within the hospital. In essence, the discussion seems to have been the classic struggle between community hospitals and their academic affiliates. In May of 1959, Mercy Hospital and Loyola University announced that the two institutions would expand separate- ly. Mercy would build a new hospital on their present site. Loyola would look for a new location to expand since the accrediting association had determined Stritch's facilities and equipment to be inadequate for the needs of medical education. By 1962 the 43 year collabora- tion between Mercy and Loyola had come to an end. Loyola purchased nine acres of property in Skokie in 1958 with the intent to build a 350 bed hospital and medical school on the site. There were several problems with this plan. First, the land needed to be annexed by Chicago to obtain city services. The bigger obstacle was the surrounding neighborhood, which felt the medical center would change the character of the community. In the end, Skokie sued, forcing Loyola to sell its property, but at a 1.7 million dollar profit. Meanwhile, Hines V.A. Hospital was planning to surplus some of its lands because it planned a high-rise replacement of its barrack-style hospital. A study commis- sioned by Loyola determined this to be an ideal location, stating that it would become the geographic population cen- ter for metropolitan Chicago. There was also sufficient land C62 acresl, and the large patient population of Hines V.A. nearby. Loyola purchased the land in 1961 for a price of one dollar. This f 1 lil, la -.4 .- A Ag v . Ubi.. ' , W'-1 , S Y 1 ll rf' ' , I I IQ5 Surgery in 19205 Photo taken from student's seat in amphitheaterfclassroom

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and offered the latest in medical treat- ment. This increased the demand on Loyola from both the Chicago communi- ty and the nation. The Burke outpatient facility flocated at the north end of the hospital on the first floorl was so over- crowded by the influx of new patients that it could not function properly. Construction was begun in 1980 for a new outpatient center on the south end of campus. Also, a new surgical wing was underway by 1983 Csee page 215. Build- ing 54 was remodeled into offices in 1985 to accommodate the growing staff, and a much needed bookstore was built the same year. The Jesuit goal of providing quality education has been well met in Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine's 77 year history. The medical school has graduated over 6,500 physicians 14500 are living today.J The future of Loyola University Medical center appears bright. While most hospitals in the v-1 country are reducing capacity, Loyola is rapidly expanding. Already planned for this year is an MRI facility between the dental school and the outpatient center. With the success of the cardiac trans- plant program, a new wing will be added to the third floor to make room for a special transplant intensive care unit. Ldyola is also looking into the possibili- ties of a new heliport, cancer research building, a new MICU, and expanding the medical school to three floors. In addition to improvements in its physical plant, Loyola will be developing its academic programs. The bone marrow transplant program will be in action shortly. Research will be stressed in an effort to bring its level of quality up to that of the clinicians and academic physicians graduating from Stritch. As Loyola achieves greater national recog- nition, vacancies in department chair- manships are sought by more renowned physicians and scientists. The success of -i 1-Hospital 2-Medical Science Building 3-Doctors Office Building 4-Motel 5-Institute of Medical Ethics and Religion The Maywood Campus as it was original construction began. See text for details. Loyola's graduates and the Jesuit tradi- tion of education are an excellent foun- dation for the future of the Stritch School of Medicine. I X 1 ., jig ,Q-Y IW! A im in if --.4 --c- . ,v A 401, el 1 , - r 4, 11 . nf' Qs, QL: 'V 1 fx. p l Jr Lt-j,,.5f,.v-.sn ' .1 -- - Niiggfar- ,M ,gi ..-.W we-.. -f F, .. ,E 'Y -as ' AJ.L'fY , r wr ' ' -- -. ...... .1 '-' ,WZ - , nf f :If ' X 55255 0111 I f zz gfgizig- 2 . - I ::,, Big ggi' i -' . -9 r '-'- 494, ' ' -g If Q F N: i .' 3 s 4 iswglf will Lars 4 .41 ' .- -r - ' ' 4: V P lo is ?:s 3 JW Pri I 3 J --4 .,ls'xf.., ,f 'fi -r TQ: 'S ' . .. .,-14,-1,25 ' tf. :i12ff'i ' 4 ,I V Q 6 1 -- 8 5. ...fm 45,2 , -4. . .. vw-S 6-Research Institute 7-Institute for Medical Missions 8-Student Dormitory 9-Interns Quarters 10-Nurses Home 11-Institute for the Study of Mind, Drugs and Behavior ly planned before History of Stritch 13