the School of Public Health, and the old Office Building was used by the Red Cross.
The new Outpatient Clinic of the University was built at a cost of $3,836,717 with funds appropriated by the state. In March, 1949, the Regents agreed that a bill be introduced in the legislature "to include a request for the funds necessary to construct the addition to the General Library and the Medical Outpatient Clinic" (R.P., 1948-51, p. 284). In November of the same year the Board adopted a resolution that the University request the legislature for a capital improvements appropriation for 1950-51, covering the construction of the Outpatient Clinic in the amount of $2,800,000 (R.P., 1948-51, p. 574).
A request for an increased appropriation was made early in 1951, and the legislature accordingly, in June, 1951, granted $1,500,000 for the building. As a result the authorized contract cost was increased from $2,900,000 to $3,726,800. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill were appointed as architectural consultants for the building and the firm of Giffels and Vallet, Inc., as architects. A contract for the construction of the superstructure was executed with Jeffress-Dyer, Inc., of Washington, D.C.
Construction was begun in September, 1950, and completed in January, 1953. The structure is a seven-story addition to the main building. It houses twenty-one clinics formerly scattered throughout odd corners of the University Hospital and is now capable of serving three times the 250,000 annual patient capacity of the old Clinic.
The new clinics are designed to provide faster and better service as well as comfort and convenience for patients not confined to hospital beds. In addition to the twenty-one specialty clinics there are 196 examining rooms, six classrooms, and ample space for the administrative staff. On each level are comfortable waiting rooms. The Pediatrics and the Psychiatry clinics have their own waiting rooms.
With the opening of the building the Hospital began a twenty-four-hour-a-day emergency service. The air-conditioned emergency suite consists of a receiving room, four minor operating rooms, a first aid room, and a cast room, with X-ray facilities adjacent.
General services for all patients are on the second level, which is the ground floor at the main entrance. Here is the reception desk where patients present letters of referral from their doctors. Nearby is the registration area, with individual booths for interviewing patients. Next is a general laboratory area for routine examinations. Also on this floor is the pharmacy unit at which patients may have prescriptions filled and the Central Appointments Office.
Like all units of the Medical Center, this building is used in the education of medical and nursing students. The classrooms are equipped for film and X-ray projection. Another important teaching facility is the Nutrition Clinic, where patients are taught the dietary principles necessary in treatment of certain diseases. The Heredity Clinic, formerly in a frame building behind the main Hospital, has been moved to the Outpatient Building and has quarters on the first level.
The Outpatient Clinic Building measures 125,340 square feet. It is 60 by 231 feet. It is built of reinforced concrete and light brick and is modern in style. In addition to the basement, there are approximately 500 rooms on the seven floors. A bridge 140 feet long connects the
