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Tulsa Regional Medical Center Changes its name to OSU Medical Center |
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Wednesday, 08 November 2006 |
 Tulsa Regional Medical Center is now OSU Medical Center and the permanent teaching hospital for OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine students. Following a 50-year academic affiliation agreement established this spring between the hospital and OSU’s Center for Health Sciences, the number of applications for spots in center’s residency program increased to 365 this year from 124 in 2005.
The name change is the result of a 50-year academic affiliation agreement between the hospital and Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences. OSU Medical Center, now the official primary teaching hospital for the medical school, continues to be owned by Ardent Health Services since Ardent’s purchase of Hillcrest HealthCare System in August 2004.
“We are honored to partner with OSU and the State of Oklahoma with this hospital and its mission,” said David T. Vandewater, president and CEO of Ardent Health Services. “This name change reflects a stronger alignment with OSU and that improves health care across the state.”
To oversee the $40 million investment that the Oklahoma legislature appropriated for hospital improvements and the academic affiliation agreement, legislators passed the OSU Medical Authority Act (Senate Bill 1771) in the spring of 2006 to create the seven-member OSU Medical Authority and Trust. The authority is developing a comprehensive plan to direct the state’s investment in OSU’s residency program by improving hospital facilities and equipment and recruiting new physicians.
“The positive changes taking place at OSU Medical Center are unprecedented,” Marty Bonick, CEO of OSU Medical Center, said. “This hospital has been training osteopathic physicians for decades, but with this new partnership, OSU Medical Center is now the official teaching hospital for OSU Center for Health Sciences, and the administrations from both institutions now can work together to create a true academic health center right here in Tulsa.”
The hospital’s new name more accurately reflects the mission and goals of OSU Medical Center, which are training new Oklahoma physicians and providing the highest quality healthcare to citizens of Oklahoma.
Plans for the $40 million appropriation include an Intensive Care Unit expansion, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit/Labor and Delivery expansion, a remodel and expansion of classrooms and sleep rooms for residents, a strengthening of OSU faculty recruitment and support, and expansion of programs and services to accommodate the growing needs of patients.
“This is an exciting time for health care in Oklahoma. OSU Center for Health Sciences is committed to providing excellent medical education and patient care. With our agreement with OSU Medical Center, OSU Center for Health Sciences is on its way to becoming a premier academic health center,” said John Fernandes, president of OSU Center for Health Sciences and dean of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Located in downtown Tulsa, OSU Medical Center is the largest osteopathic teaching facility in the country, boasting 15 postgraduate programs that train 126 residents each year in both primary care and sub-specialty areas. Together, the school and hospital have trained over 2,000 physicians, of which more than 700 are actively practicing in Oklahoma.
OSU Medical Center provides numerous highly specialized services. The hospital partners with OSU Center for Health Sciences and Diagnostic Imaging Associates to provide medical care to Oklahoma’s rural communities with a telemedicine program. This telemedicine program currently includes 35 regional hospital and clinic partners, the largest state-wide telemedicine program in the nation.
Among the many other services offered by the OSU Medical Center are cutting edge cardiology care, adolescent, geriatric and psychiatric care, and comprehensive wound care. The hospital recently expanded its cardiology services and recruited one of the area’s leading groups, Cardiology of Tulsa, to oversee its cardiology fellowship program.
Because OSU Medical Center is an academic teaching facility, student physicians care for patients under the supervision of teaching physicians. One great benefit of receiving care at a teaching hospital is that several doctors consult regarding each patient's care. Student and supervising doctors maintain accountability as they challenge one another concerning healthcare decisions made on each patient's case.
OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa offers programs in osteopathic medicine, biomedical sciences and forensic sciences. The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine has been nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top medical schools in the nation for the past six years.
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