AAMC Reporter: December 2004

NIH Opens New Clinical Research Hospital

Taking discoveries from the lab to the bedside has always been a top priority for National Institutes of Health clinicians. Nowadays, they can accomplish this feat in the most literal of ways - by walking from their lab to an adjacent patient care unit.

The new Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, named after the former U.S. senator from Oregon, opened this month with approximately 240 inpatient beds and 80 day-stations. It connects with the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center and sits on 40 acres of land, making it the largest clinical research hospital in the world.

Patient rooms and research labs at the facility are located mere steps away from each other. It is the hope of the hospital's planners that its physical set up will help speed the conversion of biomedical laboratory findings into the mainstream of medical practice.

Hatfield, who was honored at a recent ceremony, said that the facility is crucial in a world facing recurrent viral outbreaks.

"The enemy is changing its face," Hatfield said, referring to dangers posed by ailments like SARS, monkey pox and Mad Cow disease. "There is always a need for more research."

In 1989, an assessment of the Magnuson Center's building systems concluded that the hospital would last no more than 15 years of useful life left. In 1994, by mandate of Congress, the NIH convened an external advisory committee to conduct an in-depth review of the agency's intramural program, and the committee recommended the immediate revitalization of the clinical center. The new clinical center is the result of the committee's recommendations.

"This is a unique hospital," said Elias Zerhouni, M.D., NIH director, during the facility's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "There is nothing like it out there."

Should a public health emergency take place, the hospital is equipped with transportable equipment and architectural devices that allow for the easy transformation of rooms. Four of the hospitals' seven floors are for patient care, while three of them are for devices such as ducts, venting and wiring. Having separate floors for infrastructure makes maintenance easier and permits rapid changes in the use of rooms with minimum disturbance to patients.

The hospital is built with "single-pass air," meaning that air enters each room and exits without being re-circulated throughout the facility, to minimize the presence of allergens or the spread of pathogens. Airflow in individual rooms can be changed as needed. On opening, the hospital will contain 25 rooms with negative airflow (preventing air from exiting) for infectious patients and 30 rooms with positive airflow to protect immune-suppressed patients.

The hospital contains spacious labs and patient rooms that are furnished with state-of-the-art medical technology and have large windows that allow the entrance of natural light. The "Science Court," a seven-story atrium, sits at the heart of the building and serves as a central gathering area for researchers, doctors and patients. The atrium is flanked by landscaped courtyards that give a welcome respite for patients with limited mobility.

Beyond its impressive architectural features, the center's real beauty lies in the way it functions, said John Gallin, M.D., the facility's director. In addition to housing the latest medical technologies, the hospital is nearly paperless in operations, he said.

During the hospital's ribbon-cutting ceremony, U.S. Representative C.W. Bill Young, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, described the new facility as the equivalent to clinical research as the "Pentagon is to defense" and the "Capitol is to government."

During his speech, Hatfield pointed out the existence of more than 6,000 rare diseases, 5,000 of which are genetic and affect more than 25 million Americans. Such numbers underscore the importance of having government support for this kind of enterprise.

"Three thousand people will be in this facility daily doing translational research," Hatfield said. "As medical knowledge increases, so does hope."

- Suria Santana

Contact Us    © 1995-2008 AAMC    Terms and Conditions    Privacy Statement