University of Chicago Medical Center

University of Chicago Medicine
University of Chicago Medical Center
Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine
Geography
Location	Hyde Park, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Organisation
Funding	Private, nonprofit
Hospital type	Inpatient and outpatient, specialty and primary care, teaching
Affiliated university	University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Services
Emergency department	Level-I (pediatric trauma) Level-II and Level-III (NICU)
Helipad	Yes
Beds	805
History
Founded	1899
Links
Website	http://www.uchospitals.edu/
Lists	Hospitals in U.S.

The University of Chicago Medical Center, also known under the umbrella of University of Chicago Medicine, is an American academic medical center in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago, established in 1899. Affiliated with and operated by the University of Chicago, it serves as the teaching hospital for students of the institution's Pritzker School of Medicine.

Once known as the University of Chicago Hospitals, it was reorganized as the University of Chicago Medical Center in 2006, which it is still legally named. However, it operates under the umbrella of University of Chicago Medicine.

In 1988, the University of Chicago Medical Center decided not to renew its application to be part of the city of Chicago's adult trauma network. At the time, the decision was made to concentrate resources in the clinical specialties where the medical center could play the greatest role. Calls for a new adult level 1 trauma center surfaced after the death of Damian Turner, an 18-year-old who was killed by gunshot in August 2010. Representatives of the academic medical center have said that an adult level 1 trauma center is not something it can undertake alone and requires coordination by the city, state and other health care providers in the area. In addition, hospital representatives have said that building an adult trauma center would compromise the other distinct and critically important services for the community, such as The South Side's only level 1 trauma center for children, the South Side's only burn unit, its emergency departments for adults and children and the neonatal intensive care unit. Protesters have suggested that the University of Chicago should not be seeking financial support to attract the presidential library of Barack Obama without first committing to reopening an adult trauma facility. In December 2015, the University announced that it would be restarting the level 1 trauma center at the hospital. Construction on a new emergency room connected to the Center for Care and Discovery is planned to be completed by mid-2018.

In December 2015, the University announced that it will be expanding the University of Chicago Medical Center. Included in the expansion will be a new adult level 1 trauma center, a 188-bed expansion which will increase the hospital to its biggest size since the 1970s, and an overhauled cancer treatment facility. The expansion is a response to increased demand for bed space as the medical center has been operating near capacity. The trauma center is expected to be completed in 2018, with the remainder of the expansion being finished by 2022.