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Strong
Growth Continues
In FY99, Loyola University Health System achieved significant growth in research funding, service volumes and revenue.
RESEARCH FUNDING
A growing reputation for excellence in research continues to fuel
funding at Loyola. Over the past 10 years, the research dollars awarded annually to Loyola has nearly quadrupled. Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine was awarded a total of more than $29 million in 1999 — with increases from both federal and private sources.
One of the largest private donors to Loyola’s medical research in FY99 was the Dr. Ralph and Marian C. Falk Medical Research Trust. Established in 1991, the Falk Trust supports medical research for
diseases in which no definite cure is known. Since 1992 the Falk Trust has awarded $7.5 million to Loyola University Medical Center.
In FY99 alone, the Falk Trust committed $3.165 million to Loyola, including $1.2 million for the Cardiovascular Institute, $750,000 for the Neuroscience and Aging Institute, $675,000 for the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center and $540,000 for the Burn/Shock/Trauma Institute.
Loyola also received significant funding from the state of Illinois in FY99. Through the state’s Excellence in Academic Medicine grant
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program, Loyola was awarded approximately $1.91 million. The grant was divided into two areas: Medical Research and Development and Post-Tertiary Clinical Services. This allowed us to fund our
Transgenic Research Facility, our Confocal Imaging Facility, research in the Center for Clinical Effectiveness, case management, clinical trials, liver transplantation and outpatient bone marrow
transplantation. This legislation recognizes the unique role that academic health centers play in research, patient care and biomedical disciplines.
OPERATIONS
To bring the best of care to our patients, Loyola University Health System continued to expand and enhance our facilities and systems during FY99.
LUHS opened a new short-stay unit that offers streamlined care and greater convenience for surgical patients staying less than 24 hours. To meet the growing demand for cardiology services, Loyola opened a third cardiac catheterization laboratory that offers state-of-the-art, 100-percent
filmless technology. Our rehabilitation joint venture, RIC&LOYOLA, opened the remainder of a 24-bed acute unit, as well as an outpatient site at Oakbrook Terrace. And Loyola physicians began seeing patients at a new Senior Health Center in Forest Park.
Several important construction projects also began in FY99. Renovations to the west wing of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital of
 LUMC will combine the latest technology and a colorful decor to help young patients feel better. Construction on the cardiac floor will add telemetry capabilities to all cardiac beds and to other areas of the hospital. Loyola also is building a dedicated neuroscience unit that will improve care by grouping patients who require specialized nursing skills. LUHS also began construction on a new parking deck to improve patient access to hospital facilities.
LUHS also took a major step toward enhancing medical care by improving access to patient information. We began implementing a new electronic medical record system. In the near future we expect that complete patient records, laboratory results, X-rays and other vital information will be available
electronically throughout LUHS both at the medical center campus and at all our community-based sites
of care.
In our efforts to meet our patients’ service expectations, Loyola made a number of changes in our procedures. For example, patients with billing questions involving both professional fees and hospital charges can
now get answers with just one phone call. In FY99 we combined the billing inquiry units for the Loyola University Physician Foundation and Loyola University Medical Center to provide a single source
for billing services.
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