MEDIA CONTACT: Jamie Oberweger
561-955-3679, joberweger@brch.com
Kristine M. McGrath
561-297-1168, kmcgrath@fau.edu
FAU & Boca Raton Community Hospital
Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Teaching Hospital
BOCA RATON, FL (January 12, 2005) - In June 2004, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and Boca Raton Community Hospital agreed to work toward a strategic alliance with the goal of the Hospital becoming the teaching hospital for the UM/FAU medical education program. And now, that process has taken another step forward.
FAU and Boca Raton Community Hospital signed today a memorandum of understanding that will enable Boca Raton Community Hospital to build a new teaching hospital on the FAU campus, planned to open in 2011. "We are planning a state-of-the- art facility that will both prepare future generations of physicians, many of whom will remain and practice in our community, and also will allow us to continue delivering superior care to our community," said CEO/President of Boca Raton Community Hospital Gary Strack. "We are delighted to be working so closely with two important educational institutions."
This partnership will allow for adequate teaching and laboratory space to accommodate the possible expansion of the current UM/FAU partnership, an expansion that will support the move to a four-year medical school with a residency component. "This teaching facility will provide a wonderful educational opportunity for the physicians of tomorrow," said FAU President Frank T. Brogan. "In addition, it will create medical services opportunities for FAU employees, students and athletes."
"We are encouraged by the discussions, which have been ongoing since June, because we have made significant progress in several areas," said John G. Clarkson, M.D., senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. "This announcement is a major step toward Boca Raton Community Hospital's goal of creating a 21st Century teaching hospital. One thing we are addressing in our discussions is creating a facility focused on patient safety, which is among the highest priorities of the Miller School of Medicine."
"The FAU/UM initiative represents a significant milestone in the life of the Boca Raton Community Hospital" said Charles Siemon, chairman, Boca Raton Community Hospital Board of Trustees. "This will allow us to create the facilities and strategic alliances we need to better serve our patient and physician communities; and to sustain and enhance the Hospital's stature as a health care provider of choice."
"This new partnership between the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University and Boca Raton Community Hospital will serve as the centerpiece for an already cutting-edge medical school program, committed to providing quality training and educational resources to future generations of doctors and physicians in the state of Florida," said George C. Zoley, chairman of the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees.
The memo of understanding outlines the broad parameters of the partnership and fully commits FAU and Boca Raton Community Hospital to the project.
The support of a $15,000,000 donation from the Schmidt Family Foundation enabled FAU to construct a biomedical science center. The program's first 16 students entered in the fall of 2004.
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About Boca Raton Community Hospital
With 394 beds, Boca Raton Community Hospital is the largest healthcare organization in southern Palm Beach County. Built by and for the community 37 years ago after the tragic death of two young children, the not-for-profit "Miracle on Meadows Road" continues to make 'community' its top priority. Centers of excellence include emergency services; oncology; clinical research; cardiology; women's health; maternity/pediatrics/NICU; radiology; orthopedics; neuroscience; wound care/hyperbarics; cardio-pulmonary and out-patient rehabilitation; and home health.
About Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the university serves 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses strategically located along 150 miles of Florida's southeastern coastline. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts eight colleges - the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, and the Colleges of Business, Education, Engineering, and Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs. The University is observing its 40th anniversary this year.
About University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Serving more than five million people as the only academic medical center in South Florida, the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine has earned international acclaim for research, clinical care, and biomedical innovations. Founded in 1952 as Florida's first accredited medical school, the University of Miami provides the medical staff for the nationally renowned University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. Each year the medical school's 700 faculty physicians have more than a million patient encounters, in primary care and more than 30 specialties. There are more than 1,300 ongoing research projects funded by $196 million in external grants and contracts to UM faculty.
