Home | Residency Program | Fellowships | Faculty and Residents | Facilities | Birmingham | Teaching File | Interdisciplinary Conf Schedule | Schedule | Other Links

bla

bUAB | Radiology | Facilities

UAB MEDICAL CENTER

Located on the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus, UAB Medical Center is the largest medical facility in Alabama . It employs more than 4,000 people and occupies over 1.4 million square feet. With over 900 beds, an annual operating budget of over one billion dollars, and over 200 million dollars in medical research funding, the hospital is a major center of clinical research and home to some of the top medical programs in the nation. As of October 1, 2006 UAB School of Medicine had 1,990 funded research grants and contracts, which represent approximately $237 million in peer-review research. In FY 2004, UASOM was ranked 18th in the nation in research awards received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and third in the Southeast in NIH funding in 2000.

UAB is the pre-eminent referral center for Alabama, as well as portions of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and northern Florida. Because of UAB's outstanding reputation in many different fields, the institution also attracts patients from across the nation and abroad. Approximately 50% of all patients treated at UAB Hospital live more than 50 miles from Birmingham. UAB totals about 43,000 hospital admissions, over 47,000 ED visits, and more than 450,000 outpatient visits annually.

Medicare ranks UAB Hospital second among teaching hospitals and twelfth overall in complexity of care.

The school of medicine first opened as the Alabama Medical College in 1859. Closed during the civil war in 1861, it reopened in 1868 and was renamed the School of Medicine in 1907. When it moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham in 1945 to become a four-year medical school, UAB's Academic Health Center consisted of the neighboring Jefferson and Hillman Hospitals. Since that time, UAB has grown to become the state’s largest employer and one of the top academic medical centers in the United States.

Throughout its history, the institution has been a locus of growth, innovation, and quality. These achievements have been driven by prominent physicians who have distinguished themselves in national and international arenas. Among them are:

J. Marion Sims - A pioneer in gynecologic surgery, particularly the repair of vesicovaginal fistula.

William Gorgas - Conqueror of yellow fever in the building of the Panama Canal and Surgeon General of the U.S. Army.
Tinsley Harrison - Author of Principles of Internal Medicine and one of the nation's leading heart specialists.

L. L. Hill - Montgomery surgeon who performed the first successful suture of a human heart in the United States.

Champ Lyons - A recognized leader in combating surgical infection and instigator of the National Library of Medicine with his cousin Senator Lister Hill.

John Kirklin - World famous pioneer in the use of heart-lung machine in open heart surgery.
Top of Page
  • The 885,000-foot, 11-story North Pavilion opened in December 2004 with 37 operating suites, 2 procedure rooms, 3 medical surgical units, 4 intensive care units — trauma and burn intensive care, surgical intensive care, neuroscience intensive care, and cardiovascular intensive care — and a 38,000 square foot, 45 private treatment room University Emergency Department (UED).
  • The new University Hospital has 12 levels, including a basement and helipad.
  • The new University Hospital contains 96 well-appointed, private patient rooms.
  • You could build a 4-foot-wide sidewalk from Birmingham to Mobile with the amount of concrete used to build the facility.
  • With the addition of the new hospital building, the UAB core hospital complex includes six city blocks and 14 major buildings. The entire UAB campus now encompasses 83 city blocks.
  • An average floor in the hospital is roughly 105,000 square feet; approximately equivalent to fifty 2,000-square-foot houses.
  • There is enough steel to build 2,300 automobiles.
  • The second floor serves as the main concourse into the University Hospital complex from the new visitor parking deck, with its primary entrance on 4th Avenue South.
  • The new hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art digital and wireless technology.

The UAB Emergency Department is on the first floor of the North Pavilion, and contains a large public lobby and front door. The UED consists of 38,000 square feet with 45 private treatment rooms. This facility is equivalent to the size of one football field, and houses two 40-slice Philips Brilliance Power CT scanners in addition to radiography rooms. All radiographs taken in the ED are transmitted to the PACS system, which allows quick retrieval of previous exams and the ability to remotely review cases. Residents read 7,000 studies from the ED each month..

The Kirklin Clinic, a 5-story 454,000 square foot outpatient facility designed by well known architect I. M. Pei, provides examination and treatment rooms for 660 physicians in almost every specialty in adult medicine. Over 1400 patients are seen each day in the clinic's 257 exam rooms. This facility has become one of the busiest outpatient clinics in America.

The North Pavilion rooftop Healing Garden will offer a serene setting for visitors and patients to relax and reflect. The garden will feature waterfalls, multiple plantings in free-standing containers, and varied seating.

The Birmingham VA Medical Center serves a large primary care population with emphasis on common diseases, often at an advanced stage.

The Pediatric Imaging Department at Children's Hospital is the 5th largest pediatric radiology department in the United States. Children's Hospital serves primary and referred patients with a surprising number of rare pediatric conditions.

The disease spectrum varies considerably at the four institutions, affording a broad mix of clinical experiences. The University Hospital serves a large population of referral patients, many with complex and unusual disease problems. Cardiac, orthopedic, neurosurgical and oncologic problems are particularly well represented.

UAB is also a world-renowned organ transplant center, where outstanding teams of surgeons perform transplants of the heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, and bone marrow. UAB is one of 16 Medicare-approved heart transplant centers in the country. The 5,000th kidney transplant at UAB occurred in 2001; UAB's 500th heart transplant occurred in early 1998. Approximately 350 kidney, 80 liver, 30 heart, 25 lung, and 15 pancreas transplants are performed each year, showing survival rates above the national average. UAB leads the nation in total number of renal transplants over the past five years. Currently, over 6,520 kidney transplants have taken place at UAB. Approximately 500 patients are evaluated each year for liver transplantation, and about 1,000 liver transplants have been performed to date. Since 1981, 626 adult heart transplants and 88 pediatric heart transplants have occurred at UAB. A total of 368 lung transplants since 1989 and a total of 29 heart and lung transplants have occurred at UAB since 1988. There have also been a total of 20 heart/kidney transplants since 1995.
Top of Page
Other accolades for UAB include:

UAB Health System is named "Most Wired" for seventh year. The July issue of Hospitals and Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association, names UAB Health System as one of the 100 "Most Wired Hospitals and Health Networks" the only Alabama medical center to be listed.

Seven UAB Hospital specialty programs are among the nation’s top 50 — five are in the top 25 — of the 16 categories evaluated at America’s 5,189 hospitals this year by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings appear in the magazine’s 17th annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue, released July 7, 2006.

UAB Hospital is Consumer's Choice - UAB Hospital has received the 2005-2006 Consumer Choice Award of the National Research Corp. (NRC). One of only two hospitals in Alabama to attain the designation, and among just 207 of 3,000 hospitals nationally. The NRC award recognizes hospitals that receive highest marks among consumers for their quality and image, based on a nationwide survey.

Two UAB Hospital specialty programs made the Top 10 and nine specialty programs are ranked in this year’s 2005 U.S. News & World Report’s annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue. Rheumatology was ranked sixth for an unprecedented 14th consecutive year; and heart and heart surgery has leaped from 25th to 10th during the last two years.

A record 14 UAB programs are ranked in 2004 U.S. News and World Report's annual “America's Best Hospitals.” The magazine selects 50 programs in 17 medical specialties. 2004 marks the 13th consecutive time the rheumatology program has ranked. Cardiology has been ranked for the past 9 years and gynecology for 6 years. This is the 15th year that U.S. News has published its “Best Hospitals” issue.

In 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported UAB's Kidney Transplant Program had the best 1-year recipient survival rate in the nation at 98.27%.

The School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is among the nation’s best according to the 2004-2005 U.S. News & World Report ranking of medical schools. UAB is ranked 25th in the research category, three spots higher than the previous ranking in 2002.

Three medical specialties at UAB are also ranked in the top 20 nationally by U.S. News & World Report: AIDS (5th), women’s health (8th) and internal medicine (19th).

A record eleven programs from UAB are ranked in the 2003 U.S. News and World Report’s annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue. The magazine selects 50 programs in 17 medical specialties. UAB was the only Alabama hospital included in the listing.

For the first time, the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has cracked the nation’s Top 25, according to the 2004 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the nation’s best graduate schools. UAB’s medical school was ranked 24th in the research category and 22nd in the primary care category.

Among Top 5% of Nation’s Hospitals: University Hospital scored a 98 out of a possible 100 points and had no Type 1 recommendations. This high score puts University Hospital in the top 5% of all hospitals in the nation. This is a significant accomplishment that demonstrates UAB’s commitment to the highest levels of quality and patient care.

University Hospital received the 2001, 2002, and 2003 Consumer Choice Awards from the National Research Corporation. University Hospital was the only hospital in Birmingham to receive the award. This recognition positions UAB alongside such institutions as Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Duke University Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic.

The UAB Health System is included in a listing of Healthcare’s 100 Most Wired. Results of the 2004 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study were released July 14 by Hospitals and Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Asociation.

UAB’s medical specialty program in AIDS was again ranked 4th best in the nation. Other medical specialty programs ranked include the women’s health (14th), and internal medicine (14th).

Other programs in this year’s rankings include health services administration master’s degree (10th), public health master’s degree/doctorate (14th), nursing master’s degree (tied for 19th), nursing anesthesia master’s degree (30th) and rehabilitation counseling (tied for 48th).

The “Best in Medicine", a national poll of physicians, ranks UAB Hospital as one of the best in America.

Ranked number one hospital in Birmingham in MedTrax Survey in every category.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB ranks among the top 26 centers designated as “comprehensive” by the National Cancer Institute. The only center so designated in Alabama and the surrounding region, the Cancer Center is internationally recognized for excellence in patient-care and research programs.
Top of Page
THE DEPARTMENT OF RADIOLOGY

Our residents are involved in the performance, supervision and interpretation of a large volume of clinical material, totaling 500,000 examinations per year. These include approximately 90,000 CT studies, 34,000 sonograms, 17,000 MRI studies, 13,000 radionuclide examinations, and 20,000 arteriograms and other major interventional procedures. All of the radiological studies done in the department are processed, distributed and archived digitally and can be viewed on electronic workstations. A computerized voice-recognition system is used throughout the radiology department. We have a radiology information system and have web-based viewing capabilities.
University Hospital (In-Patient Radiology)

The North Pavilion opened December 2004. This facility is a 900 bed, 900,000 square feet state-of-the-art hospital.

The main radiology department is found on the sixth floor of the North Pavilion, where there is one Philips Brilliance Power 64-channel CT scanner with a complete cardiac analysis package, one Philips 40-channel CT scanner which will be upgraded in December 2006 to a Phillips Brilliance Power 64-channel CT scanner, and one 16-channel CT scanner with CT fluoroscopy. There are four 3D reconstruction workstations. Two 40-slice Philips Brilliance Power CT scanners are located in the UAB emergency department.

An average of 10,000 CT scans are performed monthly between University Hospital and The Kirklin Clinic with an overall volume growth of over 10% between 2005 and 2006.

On average we do 30,000 sonograms per year between University Hospital, Kirklin Clinic, and UAB Highlands. There are 6 Sequoia's and 4 IU22's at the 3 locations. We do a wide variety of ultrasounds, about 60% of the examinations are vascular. All three institutions are film-less and use Siemen's KinetDx system to review and archive images.

Inpatient MRI services are performed in the West Pavilion of the main UAB hospital. Two fully equipped GE 1.5 tesla Echospeed MRI units are utilized to obtain a large variety of neurological, vascular, and musculoskeletal exams. Body MRI applications ranging from endorectal coil prostate imaging to MRCP are also performed in this area.

I love working in a hightech environment where I can make use of the latest advances in radiology. This translates into higher quality care for the patient and a better education for me.
Top of Page

The Vascular and Interventional Radiology hallway includes a reading room, three digital interventional suites, and a patient care/recovery unit. A nearby hallway houses two dedicated digital neurovascular/neurointerventional rooms. The interventional services perform approximately 600 exams each month.

Located on the second floor of Jefferson Tower, the Division of Nuclear Medicine boasts six gamma cameras and three SPECT units. There are also areas for dedicated bone, V/Q, cardiac, and renal imaging. A state-of-the art fusion CT-PET scanner was recently installed in the Kirklin Clinic.

UAB radiology residents enjoy their own computer education and training room (with a Mac and several PCs), a study room (with individual carrels), and a library.

Our conference room has an overhead and closed circuit projection system linked to a computer and display podium (which is capable of projecting radiographs, slides, video, and computer-based presentations).

There are two dedicated private call rooms.
Top of Page
The Kirklin Clinic (Out-Patient Radiology)

The Kirklin Clinic has one Philips Brilliance Power 40-channel CT scanner, one GE LightSpeed 16-slice CT scanner with cardiac gating and one GELightspeed QXi 4-slice CT scanner.


Betweem University Hospital, Kirklin Clinic, and UAB Highlands there are 6 Sequoia's and 4 IU22's. The 3 locations do a wide variety of ultrasounds, about 60% of the examinations are vascular. In addition, Kirklin Clinic has 2 physician and 1 sonographer workstations.

Three new GE digital fluoroscopic rooms and two IVP rooms handle one of the busiest GI services in the nation. There is also a GE Discovery LS: fusion PET scanner.

There are separate reading rooms for GI/GU, Musculoskeletal, Body CT, Ultrasound, and Chest.

There is also a mammography section with five dedicated mammography units, a stereotactic biopsy table, and two dedicated ultrasound machines. Approximately 1,500 studies are performed in breast imaging each month.


The basement of Kirklin Clinic houses the MRI Suite for outpatient imaging. Four magnets including fully equipped GE 1.5 tesla Echospeed, GE 1.5 tesla Twinspeed Excite, Philips 1.5 tesla Achieva and Philips 3.0 tesla Achieva units provide state of the art neurological, musculoskeletal, vascular and body MR imaging for patients cared for by physicians in and beyond the UAB system.
Veterans Hospital

The Department of Radiology is a completely film-less department. New PACS software and hardware and ergonomic reading room redesign throughout the department in 2006 have dramatically improved the work environment and increased radiologist productivity. Imaging equipment includes a GE Lightspeed 16 slice CT scanner, a GE LX 1.5T and Siemens 1.5T Espree MRI Scanners, a Philips IU22, Siemens Sequoia, and Zonare convertable Ultrasound machines, Siemens all digital R&F room, GE legacy digital R & F Room and a Siemens digital chest room. A new Siemens digital Angio suite was installed in 2005, TeraRecon distributed 3D server installed in 2007 and PET-CT purchased in 2007 for install in early 2008.

Children’s Hospital

Two UAB residents are also assigned to Children’s Hospital each month. The Department of Diagnostic Imaging consists of fellowship-trained pediatric radiologists. They perform the fifth highest number of pediatric radiologic examinations per year in the country. All aspects of pediatric imaging are covered.
Top of Page
6/17/08

blank