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Duke University Health System

Duke University Health System

Overview
The Duke University Health System, combines the Duke University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
The Duke University School of Medicine is part of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930 by James B. Duke, the School of Medicine has since earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost patient care and research institutions...

, the Duke University School of Nursing
Duke University School of Nursing
The Duke University School of Nursing is located in Durham, NC and is affiliated with Duke University and Duke University Health System. The school offers an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing, Doctorate in Nursing Practice DNP, and a Ph.D...

, the Duke Clinic, and the member hospitals into a system of research, clinical care, and education.

The Duke University Medical Center is located in Durham, NC
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...

 and affiliated with Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...

. Formerly known as the Duke University Hospital and Medical School, it was established in 1930 with a bequest from James B. Duke
James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...

. The Medical Center now occupies 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) in 90 buildings on 210 acres (850,000 m²).
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Encyclopedia
The Duke University Health System, combines the Duke University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
The Duke University School of Medicine is part of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930 by James B. Duke, the School of Medicine has since earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost patient care and research institutions...

, the Duke University School of Nursing
Duke University School of Nursing
The Duke University School of Nursing is located in Durham, NC and is affiliated with Duke University and Duke University Health System. The school offers an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing, Doctorate in Nursing Practice DNP, and a Ph.D...

, the Duke Clinic, and the member hospitals into a system of research, clinical care, and education.

Duke University Hospital


The Duke University Medical Center is located in Durham, NC
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...

 and affiliated with Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...

. Formerly known as the Duke University Hospital and Medical School, it was established in 1930 with a bequest from James B. Duke
James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...

. The Medical Center now occupies 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) in 90 buildings on 210 acres (850,000 m²). It is consistently ranked among the top ten health care organizations in the United States. In 2007, U.S.News & World Report ranked Duke University Medical Center 7th-best medical center in the United States from among 5,462 medical centers. The Duke Clinic is located next to the Duke Medical Center and provides access to numerous specialties and outpatient services.

In 1925, James B. Duke made a $4 million bequest to establish the Duke University School of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
The Duke University School of Medicine is part of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930 by James B. Duke, the School of Medicine has since earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost patient care and research institutions...

, Duke University School of Nursing
Duke University School of Nursing
The Duke University School of Nursing is located in Durham, NC and is affiliated with Duke University and Duke University Health System. The school offers an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing, Doctorate in Nursing Practice DNP, and a Ph.D...

, and Duke University Hospital to improve health care
Health care
Health care , is the treatment and management of illness, and the preservation of health through services offered by the medical, dental, complementary and alternative medicine, pharmaceutical, clinical laboratory sciences , nursing, and allied health professions...

 in the Carolinas and the United States. This money was used to begin construction on the Duke Hospital and Medical School in 1927.

On July 21, 1930, the hospital opened its doors to patients. On its first day, 17 of its 400 beds were filled.
In 1936, Julian Deryl Hart, a Duke surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a person who performs surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such to remove a diseased organ or to repair a tear or breakage. Surgeons may be medical doctors,...

 introduced ultraviolet
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...

 lights in the operating rooms to kill airborne germs. In 1956, Duke surgeons were the first to use systemic hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and body functions. In warm-blooded animals, core body temperature is maintained near a constant level through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...

 during cardiac surgery. This is now standard practice worldwide.

The Medical School and Hospital were renamed the Duke University Medical Center in 1957. The first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...

 student was admitted to the Duke University School of Medicine in 1963. In 1969, the first recorded studies of human's abilities to function and work at pressures equal to a deep sea dive were conducted. In the 1990s, Duke geneticists invented a three minute test to screen newborns for over 30 metabolic diseases at once. This test is now used throughout the United States. Duke's first lung transplant and heart/lung transplant were conducted in 1992.

Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center


Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center is a hospital providing healthcare for children from birth through young adulthood. The hospital includes a neonatal intensive care unit and a pediatric intensive care unit. The McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center, housed within the hospital, provides outpatient care in more than 28 pediatric medical and surgical specialties. Duke Children's also offers primary care at several locations within Durham County.

The Duke Children's Miracle Network raises unrestricted funds for Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center through Children's Miracle Network
Children's Miracle Network
The Children's Miracle Network is an international non-profit organization that raises funds for Children's hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children's health issues. The organization, founded in 1983 by the Osmond family and John Schneider, is headquartered in Salt Lake...

. Funds are used to support research, clinical care, and family support programs.

Children admitted to the hospital may continue to attend school while receiving treatment. Established in 1959, the hospital school is part of the Durham Public Schools
Durham Public Schools
Durham County, North Carolina, created in 1992 with the merger of Durham's previous two districts.Durham's schools are traditionally named after notable members of the local community or the area they are built in , with exceptions for Jordan High and the Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High...

 system. 30-40 students are enrolled in the school on average and 8 teachers cover all grades from pre-kindergarten through high school.

Durham Regional Hospital


Durham Regional Hospital provides inpatient, outpatient, surgical and emergency care and features a level II intensive care nursery, Durham Regional Rehabilitation Institute and the Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center. Newborn care at Durham Regional Hospital is provided by physicians from Duke Children's Hospital.

Previously, the hospital has been named Lincoln Hospital and Watts Hospital.

Duke Raleigh Hospital


Duke Raleigh Hospital (DRH) has been a member of the Duke University Health System family since 1998. Christened "Mary Elizabeth Hospital" when it opened its doors in 1914, it was later renamed Raleigh Community Hospital and, in 1978, moved to the current Wake Forest Road location. The hospital has 186 beds and over 500 physicians on the medical staff. Newborn care at Duke Health Raleigh Hospital is provided by physicians from Duke Children's Hospital. Duke Children's Consultative Services of Raleigh provides services from Duke Children's Hospital as well.

In 2004, the hospital mistakenly used hydraulic fluid instead of detergents to sterilize surgical instruments. Over 3,800 patients received letters informing them of their possible exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.



External links