How The New Stanford Hospital Supports Our Mission

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How The New Stanford Hospital Supports Our Mission

Health care has changed in ways that I could not have imagined at the start of my medical and scientific career. Breakthroughs in biomedicine are making it possible to train the human immune system to fight cancer. We can now tailor certain therapies to a person based on their unique genetic makeup. And exponential gains in computing power are leading to some algorithms that can diagnose diseases as accurately as highly trained specialists. Innovations like these make today a remarkable time to be in medicine.

Across Stanford Medicine, not only are we at the forefront of many of these advances, but we are embracing them with a common vision: to lead a revolution in Precision Health. The opening of our new Stanford Hospital this fall represents an exciting next step in our journey toward Precision Health as well as a new chapter for our institution’s tripartite mission of research, education, and patient care.

Research

The new Stanford Hospital will be a place for firsts, continuing our long history of pioneering discoveries and medical treatments. In conjunction with multidisciplinary research facilities such as the Biomedical Innovation Building, which also will open this fall, and the recently renovated Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, our physicians, researchers, and students will have access to some of the most sophisticated facilities in the world. An increased capacity for translational medicine will directly benefit our patients, accelerating the pace at which medical discoveries move from the researcher’s bench to the patient’s bedside.

Education

When I was in medical school, my time was dominated by lectures and memorization. By contrast, medical students and trainees today learn in a much more varied, immersive, and digitally rich environment. The new Stanford Hospital’s design, layout, and technological capabilities enable this modern pedagogy. For example, the hospital has more than three acres of surgical floor space, an interventional MRI that allows patients to be scanned during surgery, and hybrid suites that merge the latest imaging, surgery, and intensive care capabilities. These and many of our hospital’s other cutting-edge features will foster a learning environment that emphasizes integrated, digitally driven care. Our facility also has been future-proofed to accommodate next-generation interactive teaching tools, such as virtual reality, to provide our medical trainees with new and engaging ways to learn. It is in this dynamic environment that our physicians-in-training will gain hands-on experiences that prepare them to practice Precision Health.

Patient Care

As we do now but on a greater scale, the new Stanford Hospital will provide some of the most complex care in the U.S. Yet, in delivering Precision Health, we understand that promoting patient healing involves much more than a medical intervention. In the design of our hospital, from its natural lighting, to our meditation room, to the acres of landscaping that surround the facility, we have focused on creating a therapeutic atmosphere for patients, their families, and our medical staff. In fact, we have dedicated the entire third floor of our seven-floor facility to well-being, providing a respite for people to view art installations, practice meditation and mindfulness, and walk along trails that wind through a 40,000-square-foot rooftop garden.

 

After more than a decade of planning and preparation, we look forward to bringing the new Stanford Hospital online very soon. It will enhance and support what we do best and will enable us to further our ultimate goal: to improve human health through discovery, care, and the training of tomorrow’s leaders in biomedicine.

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