HOSPITAL
DUKE
siBSXi
\’0L. 9, XO. 4 OCTOBER, 1962 DURHAM, N. C.
The Building in the Middle of the Road
The main entrance to the new bnildin" is decorated with a relief of
Aesculapius flanked bj' caducei.
That “buildin? in the middle of the
road” has just been completed and
most of its new occupants have moved
to their new (piarters. This latest ad
dition to the Duke Medical Center
campus is the •$2,200,000 l)iap;nostie
and Treatment Center No. 8 and
(jerontolo"y Building. The appear
ance of the building suggests that it
is one Tuiit, but in reality it consists
of two separate projects, each with a
(lifferent purpose and financing.
The east end of the attractive new
structure houses the Diagnostic and
Treatment Center while the west end
of the building is devoted to the rela
tively new concept of gerontology.
The rapid growth in the past several
years of the Medical Center is not
news to those of us who have worked
around renovation and construction
constantly. In the course of this
growth, the various functions of each
department and of the iiulividual phy
sician have become so widely dispersed
that efficiency was seriously hampered.
The need for centralization of certain
operations was obvious and it is this
lu^ed for consolidation that the Diag
nostic and Treatment Biiilding an
swers.
The nu^mbers of the departments of
medicine, surgery, pediatrics, psychi
atry and radiology that are iu)w lo
cated in the new building have under
one roof their offices, laboratories and
(“xamining rooms. As Did^e Medical
Center becomes more and more a re
gional referral center for difficult
diagnostic and treatment problems,
it is essential that each physician has
within easy access tlie latest tools of
his specialty as well as the availability
of other members of his staff for con
sultation. The new building is joined
to the Hospital by a 16-foot tunnel.
Tliis tunnel, incidentally, is the first
section of a corridor that will connect
the present liospital to the proposed
new Medical Center complex bej'ond
the Hell Research Building.
Thus these latest laboratory facili
ties are within easy access of hospital
in-patients as well as out-patients. A
further integration of functions will
be realized when the Clinical Research
Building—which adjoins the Diag
nostic and Treatment Building—is
completed in the spring.
Tlie activities that are now taking
place in the new D & T (’enter are
many and diverse. Most of the busi
ness of the ENT department will be
carried on in the new facility. Dr.
Hudson’s office, examining rooms, an
enlarged and more pleasant clinic
space, and more space and newer
equipment for audiologist Mrs. Susie
Hunt are now available.
The psychiatric day care program
will be carried on in the new clinic
facilities in this building. The depart
ment of radiology has space for sev
eral research ])rojeets including the
investigation of an electronically con
trolled system for copying x-ray films.
Tliis device, called Log-E-Tronics, it is
hoped will be useful in copying for
teaching purposes and for improving
tlie diagnostic accuracy of films.
Neurosurgery will have diagnostic
and clinical space for the study of
cancer, Parkinson’s disease, nervous
system disorders related to aging and
rehabilitation following brain surgery.
Dr. Sealy and Dr. Yotuig will have
space for specialized diagnostic pro
cedures necessary in patients being
evaluated for chest surgery. They will
also have laboratory space for studies
in deethypotliermia. Tliis long word is
used to describe the study of the effects
of the lowering of body temperature
and the clinical applications of this
procedure.
Dr. Crimson will move all of his
(Continued on page 3)