The Kansas University School of Medicine began by offering a one-year premedical
course in Lawrence, Kan., in 1880 and then offered a two-year course in 1899, according
to www.kumed.com. It became a four-year school April 21, 1905, when three private
medical schools in the Kansas City, Kan., area merged: the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, Kansas City Medical College and Medico-Chirurgical College.
In 1906, Simeon Bell donated the land and more than $100,000 to establish the original
Eleanor Taylor Bell Hospital in honor of his wife. That same year, the School of
Medicine moved into the hospital located on “Goat Hill” in Rosedale in Kansas City.
Basic sciences still were taught in Lawrence, and clinical studies were taught at
the Rosedale facility. A School of Nursing also was established in 1906.
In the early 1920s, the medical school moved south to its present location, and
in the late 1940s, it was renamed the University of Kansas Medical Center. During
the 1960s and 1970s, all studies moved to Kansas City. Additionally, the School
of Allied Health was established, and a new hospital opened in 1979.
The hospital marked an important milestone in 1998 when it became an independent
Hospital Authority, which receives no state funding. The hospital’s official name
now is The University of Kansas Hospital.
A sixth-floor was added to the hospital in 2003, and an expanded and renovated Cancer
Center and new Breast Center opened that same year. Also in 2003, construction began
on the Center for Advanced Heart Care.
The hospital now is ranked nationally in 10 adult specialties.
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