Temple University School of Medicine - Skull Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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To strengthen the concept of total patient care and to better apply the most recent innovations in medicine, Temple University Hospital continued to add to its existing physical facilities. In 1956 three new buildings were opened: the Ancillary Services building, which houses the radiology department, clinical laboratories, and surgical operating rooms; the Out-Patient Building, with numerous clinics, laboratories, and doctors’ offices; and the ten story Parkinson Pavilion, named for Dr. William N. Parkinson who so ably led the Hospital and Medical School through the trying growing pains of the years between 1929 and 1959. Public interest was again manifested as approximately one—third of the cost of the Parkinson Pavilion was provided by gifts from people in the community. In 1963, the Fels Medical Research Building was erected next to the School of Medicine, a site formerly occupied by the Dr. Russell Conwcll’s Tioga Baptist Church. This unusual research facility housed the departments of medical physics, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, microbiology, anatomy, and the cancer research studies of the Fels Research Institute. On October 26, 1965, the new building of the Skin and Cancer Hospital was dedicated at the Health Sciences Center. This institution had its beginnings in 1928 as a dispensary—clinic operating in a remodeled residence at 806 Pine Street. Dr. Albert Stricklcr was the hospital’s first medical director, sole attending dermatologist, and chief researcher. In 1957, the Skin and Cancer Hospital became the Dermatology Department of Temple University Hospital while maintaining its separate identity under its own board of trustees. It was during this expansion period that plans were made for three additional facilities, a Basic Sciences Building for the Medical School, a Clinical Teaching Hospital, and a Continuing Education Building. Of these three, the Kresge Building for Basic Sciences (1969) and the Student Union — Continuing Education Building have been built. Construction of the Clinical Sciences Teaching Building was halted due to design and financial difficulties. An cmbarassingly expensive excavation behind the Out-Patient Buidling is an unsightly reminder of both this unrealized goal and the financial realities of the 1970’s. Financial problems have plagued Temple University Hospital throughout the 1970’s. In 1975, the institutions creditors refused to advance further monies and closing seemed eminent. This crisis was resolved when the State of Pennsylvania came to the aid of the Hospital. The State agreed to underwrite a 25 million dollar debt and assume ownership of the Temple University Hospital, which would then be loaned to Temple University for the sum of one dollar per year. From an initial class of 31 night students in 1901, the Temple University School of Medicine has enlarged its enrollment to 730 in 1977. One small hospital in North Philadelphia has grown to become the Temple University Health Sciences Center, an institution encompassing several city blocks, with close affiliation to several hospitals in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. This remarkable growth in a relatively short period is lestamonial to the efforts and vision of the men and women who have served Temple University Hospital. 26

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