MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2006 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Little, Albritton, Browning, Butler, Carmichael, Chaney, Davis, Dawkins, Frazier, Jackson (11th), King, Kirby, Lee (35th), Mettetal, Michel, Posey, Thomas
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING THE FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY.
WHEREAS, the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, which opened on July 1, 1955, is the health science campus of the University of Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, an address by Dr. Fred Allison, one of the original 1955 University of Mississippi Medical Center faculty, highlighted the institution's 50th Anniversary Convocation on Thursday, October 20, 2005. The University of Mississippi Medical Center opened in 1955, but its beginnings date to 1903 when a two-year medical school was established on the parent campus in Oxford, Mississippi. In that era, certificate graduates went out of state to complete their Doctor of Medicine degrees; and
WHEREAS, in 1950, the Mississippi Legislature, by a one-vote margin, enacted a law to create a four-year medical school. On July 1, 1955, the state's new University Medical Center, or UMC as it is commonly called, opened in Jackson, initially as a four-year medical school with medical and graduate students, interns and residents. As it had in Oxford, the School of Medicine offered both medical and graduate degree programs. The campus included a teaching hospital and a library; and
WHEREAS, the Oxford campus' nursing department moved to the Medical Center in 1956 and it was granted school status in 1958. The School of Health Related Professions (SHRP) was added in 1971 and began offering baccalaureate curricula in 1973. The School of Dentistry was authorized in 1973, and its first students were admitted in 1975. The graduate program was elevated to school status in 2001 and designated the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences; and
WHEREAS, the Medical Center functions as a separately funded, semi-autonomous unit responsible to the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi and, through him, to the constitutional Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, which governs all eight state institutions of higher learning in Mississippi. Dr. Dan Jones, the Medical Center's Chief Executive Officer, is the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs; and
WHEREAS, the original T-shaped building of 1955 is barely discernible in the campus of 2005, with five schools and four hospitals located on 164 acres. The Medical Center employs more than 7,500 employees and its current budget is $767 Million; and
WHEREAS, the Medical Center's principal and continuing purpose is to accomplish the interrelated goals of health professional education for Mississippi; to teach in a superior manner the art and science of health care to students of exceptional promise and talent; to provide high quality treatment for all patients using the disciplines and specialties of modern health care; to lead the way to discoveries which will raise the health level of all Mississippians and, indeed, all mankind; to foster dedication to life-long learning; to respond to community needs through continuing education and outreach programs that extend beyond the campus; and to recruit and retain the caliber of faculty necessary to meet these goals; and
WHEREAS, UMC graduates at all levels are expected to possess and to demonstrate the skills and knowledge necessary to practice their disciplines as competent health professionals; and
WHEREAS, landmark achievements at UMC include the following: world's first lung transplant performed by Dr. James D. Hardy, 1963; world's first heart transplant in man performed by Dr. James D. Hardy, 1964; scientists there are first to identify differences in blood pressure among racial groups, 1960s; Dr. Arthur C. Guyton receives his first National Institute of Health program project grant to study "cardiovascular dynamics and their control," 1968, (the project has been continuously funded for 38 years); dental researcher discovers breast cancer markers in saliva, 1997; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute names UMC, with Tougaloo College and Jackson State University, site of the Jackson Heart Study, the world's largest study of heart disease risk factors in African-Americans ever undertaken, 1997 to present; neuroanatomist discovers the brain cells of suicide victims differ from the brain cells of those who died from other causes, 1999; team of scientists discover chronic smokers have biological changes in the brain similar to those caused by antidepressants, 2001; and Enterra Therapy device implanted in 13-year-old male gastroparesis patient, the youngest ever to receive the stomach pacemaker, along with sister, the first siblings ever to receive the device, 2004; and
WHEREAS, the expeditious growth of UMC into a major academic health sciences center reflects the deep commitment of the State of Mississippi, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the administration and faculty of the University of Mississippi Medical Center to the continuing fulfillment of its purpose; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we mark 50 years of service to the State of Mississippi by this landmark institution:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate the faculty and administration of the University of Mississippi Medical Center on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary celebration, and extend the best wishes of the Legislature for the future growth and service of this professional research institution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Dr. Dan Jones, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, to University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat and to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.