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| Vol. 20, No. 21 |
| November 15, 1998 |
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Students, Community Helping Fund New $60 Million Building by PAMELA LEWIS The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center The $60 million funding of the Nursing & Biomedical Sciences Building at The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center is nearly complete with approximately $2 million still to be raised from local sources, announced UT-Houston president Dr. M. David Low. Half the cost of the building - $30 million - is being funded by student fees and contributions from local philanthropic foundations, corporations and individuals. The other half comes from UT-Houston and the Texas Legislature.
"This 220,000-square-foot building, designed by competition-winning Patkau Architects of Vancouver, British Columbia, will be both a center for our student services and a tribute to the selfless commitment and dedication of UT-Houston's wonderful students, who have agreed to shoulder one-third of the cost through the staged increase of the general use fee," says Dr. Low. "The students' willingness to contribute to the construction of this building has helped with local fund-raising in the Houston community." Robert Cizik, UT-Houston development board member and chair of the local fund-raising committee, says he is gratified at the warm response received from members of Houston's philanthropic community: "Their support, with funds from the university, the Texas Legislature, and the UT-Houston students themselves, will create a top-notch educational center of which the entire city will be proud," he says. "In years to come, it will provide more and more highly skilled nurses and other health care professionals on whom we all, at one time or another, depend for the health of our loved ones and ourselves," he adds. Fund-raising began in January with a $3,600,000 pledge from Houston Endowment Inc. Of the decision to make the leadership gift to the campaign, Houston Endowment President H. Joe Nelson III, says, "The Texas Medical Center attracts physicians, scientists and patients from all parts of the globe, and serves our own community in ways too numerous to mention. Nurses make a unique contribution to this enterprise, their skills and dedication to patient care are essential not only to physical recovery, but to patients' overall well being. The UT-Houston School of Nursing is one of the best in the nation, and many of its graduates are recruited to top TMC institutions. We are pleased and proud to help UT-Houston build a new home in which future generations of nurses - and other health care professionals - will acquire the knowledge and skills that ultimately enrich our whole community." The new building, slated for occupancy in 2002, will be built on a narrow site at the intersection of Holcombe and Bertner, next to the UT-Houston School of Public Health. In addition to containing state-of-the-art technology to support the cutting-edge programs of the schools of nursing and allied health sciences, it will function as the "heart" of the UT-Houston Health Science Center campus. It will be used by students, faculty, staff and alumni at all the Health Science Center schools, as well as being a site for continuing education and professional conferences. "The building will serve a dual role for students," says Carol Walker, 1997-98 president of the UT-Houston Student InterCouncil. "Not only will it serve an educational purpose, but it will also become the centralized location for most, if not all, student services - a distinct advantage for the busy student." The design, construction and interiors of the building are part of a new era of sustainability on the campus, says Brian Yeoman, assistant vice president for support services at UT-Houston. "We are making sure that it will meet the needs of the current generation of students without having a negative impact on future generations." For years, the School of Nursing - 600-plus students and 65 full-time faculty - has been housed in former office space in the Houston Main Building, while the School of Allied Health Sciences has limited space in the University Center Tower. "The School of Nursing is at the forefront of state and national efforts in academic and research excellence, and is currently growing at a phenomenal rate," says Dr. Low.
"We see this building not only as a place to educate health professionals for the 21st century with all its clinical and information technology, but also as a home for nursing that is a symbol of the caring and nurturing side of our healing profession," says Patricia L. Starck, D.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N., John P. McGovern Professor and dean of the School of Nursing. "Nurses represent the single largest group of health professionals," says Dr. Starck, "and are also, in my judgment, the health care professionals closest to human suffering, being in hospitals 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, often in the wee hours when patients express their deepest needs. Caring for patients' human spirit is as important as physical care. The new building will be a joyous place to work and learn and will help students develop the caring aspect of their professional practice." "Also experiencing substantial growth is the department of health informatics in the School of Allied Health Sciences, which also will be housed in the building," says Dr. Low. Health informatics is a blending of health care knowledge and computer science skills, which will be a critical need in the years ahead as hospitals and other health care providers computerize patient records. "What is great about this building," says Doris L. Ross, Ph.D., dean pro tem of the School of Allied Health Sciences, "is that it is being designed to be a total environment supporting the kinds of education we are doing now, but also will have an infrastructure flexible enough to adapt to future needs. The faculty, staff, and students anticipate working and studying in a building which will support new ways of doing education, especially our department of health informatics with its trans-disciplinary programs of electronically exchanged data and ideas. "This cutting-edge master of science program is the first in Texas and the first in the nation that is truly interdisciplinary," she adds. "We will always push the boundaries of doing education and research in collaboration with other entities in the Medical Center and beyond." "Together these two schools are poised for leadership roles in the education of health professionals, as well as in developing vital collaborative health care research efforts both internally and with other institutions. This new building will allow both schools to continue their recent successes and contribute to the quality of health in our society as a whole," Dr. Low says.
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