Tyler Is Center of Treatment, Health Research
Published Dec 15, 2008
East Texas Medical Center in Tyler has embarked on a $21 million expansion program.
Three high-quality medical centers in Tyler are focusing on cutting-edge treatment and research while adding specialties to meet the needs of East Texas residents.
The 200-bed University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler offers 30 areas of specialty care and has focused attention on cutting-edge treatment to those suffering from pulmonary diseases. Part of this effort is interventional pulmonology, which uses nonsurgical procedures to diagnose and treat lesions inside the lung. The center is one of just a handful of medical centers in the country offering these advanced procedures, said Dr. Kirk Calhoun, center president.
Similarly, scientists are developing therapies that target and kill cancer cells. They’re developing molecules that bind to “death receptors” on the surface of cancer cells and force them to die.
Thanks to $12 million in annual research spending, scientists are leading investigations into lung disease, cancer, tuberculosis and diabetes. Through this work, the center has seen its NIH funding increase sevenfold in a decade.
Tyler also offers specialty hospitals that focus on areas such as rehabilitation, behavioral health, and spine and joint treatment.
The 392-bed Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics adopted a new stereotactic radiosurgery system this summer and started using a new cardiac resynchronization defibrillator. The hospital, a Level II trauma center, employs a da Vinci robotic surgery system and offers some three-dozen medical specialties.
The 454-bed East Texas Medical Center’s admissions grew 19 percent in the past decade, leading the system to add neurology, rehabilitation, cancer, orthopedics and behavioral health as regional service lines. The hospital has begun a $21 million expansion to add two stories to its north tower.
Once the addition of 72 rooms is completed in early 2010, it should ease congestion in the hospital’s Level I Trauma Center and allow it to accept patients from its regional network of hospitals and physicians, says CEO and President Elmer Ellis.
ETMC has operated on a regional service strategy since the mid-1970s. Patients from outside the county accounted for half its patient days, prompting a referral relationship with other providers that in the past viewed Tyler as a competitor. Today, hospitals in 14 communities are tied into the referral network.
Story by Roy Moore
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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