Family Medicine

Give Now to the Family Medicine Building Campaign

Family doctors are physicians who specialize in the field of family medicine. These physicians build strong bonds with families as they care for toddlers and teens, adults and seniors. They are long-term partners in the healthcare of families, offering wellness checkups, preventive care, treatment for common conditions and when needed, support and guidance in seeking care from specialists. Family doctors are the constant in our healthcare.

East Tennessee’s Family Doctors

More than 40 years ago, the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine opened a family medicine practice, and since that time, it has been a constant presence for the East Tennessee region. For four decades, the Department of Family Medicine, through University Family Physicians, has served 21 counties in East Tennessee. That’s one-fourth of the state.

Today, the medical practice includes 50 physicians who care for more than 26,000 patients each year, 125 people every day. Of the 50 physicians, 27 re Family Medicine resident and fellow physicians, who gain knowledge and competency in the areas of

• Advanced Obstetrics
• Behavioral Medicine
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Geriatrics
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Sports Medicine

The three-year Family Medicine residency program started in 1970 and was the first such program in Tennessee. It blends clinical and classroom experiences that enable resident physicians to acquire the technical skills and medical knowledge of a family doctor. Physicians in the Family Medicine fellowship programs undergo rigorous training in highly specialized areas. These exceptional educational programs equip Family Medicine physicians to serve the community.

A Tight Fit

Residency and fellowship training and all patient care take place in the Henry H. Lyon Sr. Family Medicine Center, located on the campus with the University of Tennessee Medical Center and UT Graduate School of Medicine. The 60-year-old structure originally was built as a nursing dormitory and was renovated in the 1970s for today’s family medicine clinic. The facility measures about 20,000 square feet in size—less than one square foot per patient.

It’s a tight fit.

Not only do checkups and exams take place in the 27 examination rooms in the clinic, but the facility also houses space for procedures such as colonoscopies and cardiac stress testing, as well as a diagnostic area and a laboratory.

The size of the building isn’t just uncomfortably tight. It also is hindering

• Growth in the patient base, although the need for healthcare continues to increase throughout East Tennessee and
• Ability to recruit the best residents, fellows and faculty, which could mean fewer family doctors and specialists in our region.

Expanding the Legacy

For 40 years, they’ve served East Tennessee through an ever-growing patient population, and now, the physicians, nurses, staff and patients are shoulder to shoulder in the current family medicine clinic. More and better space is needed for patient areas and educational space for residents and fellows. A new facility will help the medical team meet the demands of an increasingly diverse, complex and aging population and train physicians to continue the legacy of being the constant in the healthcare of families of our region.

A Legacy of Giving: Capital Campaign

The UT Graduate School of Medicine has embarked on a capital campaign to raise $6 million to build a new multidisciplinary family medicine facility, housing comprehensive services and programs under one roof. The campaign will enable improved and continuing healthcare for the families in our community.

Already, $2 million of the campaign goal have been raised through the generosity of a local family and through an award from the Health Resources and Services Agency Administration. This financial support has allowed for the completion of Phase I of the campaign: A first-floor clinic addition and ground-floor shell

Phase II: Renovation of the existing patient spaces: waiting areas, examination and procedure rooms and laboratory

Phase III: Renovation of the medical library and family medicine business offices.

Overall, complete funding of this capital campaign will

• Allow an increase in the number of patient visits
• Expand services including procedures and chronic disease management
• Add 18 new exam rooms and two new procedure rooms
• Double the diagnostic space for x-rays and ultrasound
• Provide a centralized laboratory space for research in health literacy, sports medicine, diabetes, hypertension and more
• Provide residents and fellows with a functional and high-tech educational area
• Establish a 60-person conference and lecture center
• Create a team-structured, patient-centered medical home.

Support the Legacy of Family Medicine

Through participation in the capital campaign, you can give time, talent and treasures to a cause you believe is important. You can support an institution that ensures quality healthcare, education and community outreach are always available.

The campaign allows you to contribute to the established legacy of UT…while building your own legacy.

The capital campaign for the Family Medicine facility ends in 2011. All levels of commitment to the campaign are appreciated. Large gifts prove to have major impact, and small gifts added together will make a difference. The people at the UT Graduate School of Medicine would be happy to discuss the Family Medicine building campaign and how you can be a lasting part of it.

Campaign Initiative Goal for the Family Medicine Building Campaign: $6 Million

Raised to Date: $2,454,922

For more information about the opportunities you have to support this legacy, please contact the Office of Development 865-305-6611 or development@utmck.edu.