UAB Hospital (also known as University Hospital) is a 1,157 bed

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

hospital and

academic health science center An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic health science system, or academic health science partnership, is an educational and healthcare institute formed by the grouping of a health profess ...

located in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. It serves as the only ACS verified

Level I Trauma Center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emergenc ...

in Alabama, and is the flagship property of the UAB Health System which is owned by the University of Alabama System. The system includes clinics, an eye hospital and affiliations with other health care facilities throughout the state. It is Birmingham's largest employer, with a staff of over 20,000.

Ratings

UAB Hospital also serves as the primary

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

for the UAB School of Medicine. 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 in 2006 by U.S. News & World Report. With its seven ranked programs, UAB Hospital was one of only 176 hospitals, or about 3 percent of U.S. institutions studied — and the only hospital in Alabama — to rank high enough in even one specialty to make the magazine's national "Best Hospitals" list. The seven specialties are: rheumatology (6th); heart and heart surgery (14th); gynecology (14th); kidney disease (17th); cancer (23rd); and orthopedics (47th). The 2005-2006 list of "Best Doctors in America" includes 234 UAB physicians, more than two-thirds of all specialists from the Birmingham metropolitan area in the Best Doctors database. Best Doctors is an independent, knowledge-based medical referral service located in

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the Sout ...

. Its surveys ask peer physicians, "If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer them?" Only about 3 to 5 percent of all specialists worldwide make the list, which currently names 33,000 in the U.S. — including 345 physicians in the Birmingham area. UAB Hospital received a 2005-2006 Consumer Choice Award from the National Research Corporation (NRC). It is among just 207 of 3,000 hospitals, nationally, to receive the recognition. The award is bestowed upon hospitals that receive highest marks among consumers for their quality and image, based on a nationwide survey of more than 200,000 households representing some 400,000 consumers. UAB Hospital is the only Birmingham-area hospital to receive the award this year. The recognition places UAB Hospital alongside such institutions as

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

Duke University Hospital Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hosp ...

, the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

, the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

, and

Yale-New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned and operated by the Yale New Haven Health System. YNHH includes the 168-bed Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, the 201-bed Yale New Have ...

History

The hospital was established in 1945 as the teaching hospital for the University of Alabama School of Medicine, which was moved from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

main campus in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. It was originally located in the Jefferson and Hillman Hospitals, which were acquired by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees from Jefferson County. The rapid growth of the Greater Birmingham area led the hospital to continue to expand to some 20 surrounding medical buildings. In 1992, UAB opened "The

Kirklin Clinic The Kirklin Clinic is the primary adult outpatient clinic of the medical staff of UAB Hospital, and of the faculty of the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Kirklin Clinic also is the site for many clinical rotations in the medical school's ...

", a 5-story outpatient facility. In November 2004, UAB Hospital opened its new 885,000-foot, 11-story building named North Pavilion. It includes 37 operating suites, two procedure rooms, three medical surgical units, four intensive care units — trauma and burn intensive care, surgical intensive care, neuroscience intensive care, and cardiovascular intensive care, and a emergency department. Its emergency department is located on the first floor, along with the large public lobby and front door. The second floor serves as the main concourse into the UAB Hospital complex with its primary entrance on 4th Avenue South. The new hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art digital and wireless technology. Operating rooms contain voice-activated video technology allowing the surgeon to view x-rays, ECGs or pathology specimens without having to break scrub or leave the room. In February 2010, a new Women and Infant's Center was completed and opened, adjacent to the new Children's of Alabama Russell Campus hospital.

References

External links

UAB Medicine
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1945 Hospital buildings completed in 2004 Teaching hospitals in Alabama Buildings and structures in Birmingham, Alabama University of Alabama at Birmingham 1945 establishments in Alabama