HSD Development Priorities
As the University of Utah Health Sciences Development pushes to meet current needs and those of the future, these are the areas that have been designated priorities.
Skaggs Pharmacy Institute: For more than 40 years the College of Pharmacy has called the L. S. Skaggs Hall its home. But today, the college is overflowing and outdated. Faculty, staff and students are using inadequate research and laboratory space and are dispersed among 6 buildings across campus.
Planning is underway to build a new, larger research and education building adjacent to the existing facility. Researchers will enjoy the collaborative environment, while expert faculty will teach generations of new pharmaceutical professionals. The new facility will also foster interdisciplinary research impacting people world wide who are suffering from disease.
We are more than half way toward meeting our goal of bringing this new facility to fruition, thanks to the generosity of Sam Skaggs and the ALSAM Foundation. By becoming a partner we can work together to secure our College of Pharmacy's legacy as a world class institution. The University of Utah's College of Pharmacy is currently ranked number two among our nation's pharmacy research programs and has been ranked in the top four pharmacy colleges in the country for the past 32 years.
Hospital Expansion: With its heavy 24-hour use, a hospital's physical plant takes a beating. University Hospital began serving patients in 
1981. In an average year, over 600,000 people pass through the front doors of University Hospital, with volume on peak days exceeding 10,000 individuals. In addition, changes in technology and patient care require that University Health Care upgrade our facilities to meet the growing needs of the community.
The Patient Care Pavilion, being built to the west and north of the hospital, will enhance patient care and privacy; create a state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment; improve operational efficiency to help control costs for the patients and the hospital; and facilitate the continued introduction of cutting-edge treatments and technology.
Upon completion of the Patient Care Pavilion in the summer of 2009, existing units of semi-private rooms in the current hospital will be systematically remodeled into private rooms resembling the private rooms in the new Pavilion, matching the quality of our facility to the outstanding quality of our care.
The University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute Expansion: For nearly 25 years the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute has served those with acute mental illness, substance abuse and behavioral disorders. In 1986, Dr. Bernard Grosser, then Chairman of the University of Utah School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, successfully opened the Western Institute of Neuropsychiatry, a 90-bed free standing psychiatric hospital serving the mountain west. In 1994, the University of Utah purchased the Western Institute and moved most of the psychiatric services from University Hospital to what is now the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI). As it was when it opened, UNI is still recognized for excellence and in both in-patient and out-patient clinical care. It is also ranked as one of the top psychiatric facilities in patient satisfaction.
Today, UNI beds are almost always full and patients’ requiring hospitalization must be placed on waiting lists putting a serious strain on families, loved ones and the patients. The shortage of beds for acutely ill patients is particularly critical for adolescents and school-age children. Often there are ten or more young people waiting in the community for an open bed. With this increasing need for acute mental health services and facilities, the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute is undertaking an expansion that will add a new 120,000 sq. foot pavilion, including 72 much-needed private beds and treatment space. This addition will also expand the capacity for intensive outpatient and aftercare services.
Scholarship Support: Scholarship support is a vital need for many of our students who would otherwise not be able to afford a college education. It is through scholarship support that we have seen many lives changed for the better. With the rising costs of education, scholarship money has never been more needed.
Right now there is a growing problem with not enough nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and other medical professionals due in part to the rising cost of an education. In fact cost is keeping highly qualified people from going into health professions. Scholarships can make a big difference and are one key to helping reduce the shortages.
Scholarships will also help remove the pressure of wondering where next semester's tuition is coming from. Sometimes a student doesn't need much to get over the hump to enable them to devote full time to study. A small donation may be all that is required to turn a good student into a great student and a great student into an exemplary doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Endowed Chairs: Endowed chairs are a hallmark of a great University and are an important tradition 
in education, dating back to 1502 when Margaret, Countess of Richmond, and grandmother to the future King Henry VIII, created the first endowed chairs in divinity at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
The income from the endowment is used for salary supplements to reward and retain distinguished faculty members or to recruit top professors from other institutions. The intention is to provide the holder of the endowed chair with the resources necessary to continue the scholar's contribution to teaching, research and public service.
Donors who generously endow chairs know that they are not only ensuring academic excellence in teaching and research today, but that theirs is truly a gift to the future. Endowed chairs are living memorials, signifying a permanent commitment to quality education.