At eight o’clock in the morning on a hot August day in 1956, 12 ambulances pulled up in front of the Knoxville General Hospital to begin the task of moving its patients to healthcare professionals awaiting their arrival at the University of Tennessee Memorial Hospital.  Men, sporting neckties and white, long-sleeved shirts, lined up stretchers on which patients were transported to ambulances parked outside. Dressed in crisp, white uniforms, smiling nurses walked gingerly down the stairway, carrying their luggage and other belongings from the old hospital for the last time. So marked opening day of what was then called, alternately, the atomic or isotopic hospital but what was, in fact, the rudimentary beginnings of the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

- Miracle in the Valley

The following is a timeline that provides a brief history of UT Medical Center.

2004 — Medical Office Building E / Heart Lung Vascular Institute. Construction of the new home for the Heart Lung Vascular Institute began in 2002. The 82,000-square-foot, freestanding facility houses the University Cardiology (formerly Knoxville Cardiovascular Group), University Pulmonary & Critical Care, University Vascular Surgeons, University Heart Surgeons, the Vascular Laboratory, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, education, screening and testing. The facility serves as the most comprehensive blend of heart, lung and vascular services in the region.

Late 2002 — Medical Office Building D / Cancer Institute. The facility positions the Cancer Institute to expand its multi-disciplinary site-specific clinics for chest and breast diseases to include gynecological, gastrointestinal and prostate cancers. The 59,000-square-foot building houses a new Outpatient Diagnostic Center, Ambulatory Surgery Center and Physician Medical Offices.

2001 — New Emergency Department and Trauma Center opened to replace original facilities.

2000 — UT Medical Center’s Heart Lung Vascular Institute was established.

1999 — University Health System Inc. (UHS), a not-for-profit entity, was developed. The Graduate School of Medicine’s educational mission remains a function of the University of Tennessee.

1997 — UT President Joseph Johnson announced that UT would seek legislation that would allow the UT Board of Trustees to look at the possibility of other operational arrangements for the hospital such as transferring the hospital to an independent, not-for-profit corporation.

1995 — University Clinical Cancer Center and Telehealth programs established.

1994 — Received Level I Pediatric Trauma Center designation by the state.

1993 — Fixed wing aircraft was added to LIFESTAR Aeromedical Services.

1991 — The role of the graduate medical education was further strengthened when the UT Board of Trustees approved establishment of the UT Graduate School of Medicine. Further, the Board’s action created two distinct operating divisions of UT Medical Center: the Graduate School of Medicine, with the mission of teaching and research, and the University Memorial Hospital, with the mission of patient care.

1989 — Physicians office Building C opened.

1986 — UT Medical Center surgeons performed the first heart transplant in the area.

1985 — The first kidney transplant was performed in the area. Today, UT Medical Center still is the only facility in the area providing kidney transplant.

1984 — The 12-story Boling Pavilion, named for the former University President Edward Boling and his wife, Carolyn, opened as the hospital’s East wing; the Diabetes Center was founded, and the Biomedical Imaging Center was developed; LIFESTAR, the area’s first medical helicopter, began transporting trauma and critically ill patients.

1981 — UT Medical Center received designation as one of only five Region Perinatal Centers in the state.

1973 — A national physician shortage, especially in rural areas, led to expansion of the residency program. By 1975, 66 students were part of the program.

1972 — The new Emergency Department opened.

1971 — The UT Board of Trustees created the Clinical Education Center to train 20 senior class medical students each year.

1970 — The Intensive Care Nursery and the 184-bed South Patient Pavilion opened.

Early 1970s — The Department of Family Practice established a residency-training program that boasted 32 residents by 1976.

1960s — A period of exponential growth as research facilities and patient care facilities were built and residency programs began. The first of three physicians’ office buildings was built.

Aug. 9, 1956 — UT Memorial Hospital opened its doors for the first patients to be transported from Knoxville General.

Late 1953 — Governor Frank Clement leads the groundbreaking ceremonies for the research center/hospital.

References
DeFiore, Jayne C. Miracle in the Valley: A History of the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville, 1944 – 1995, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tenn.,1996).