UT Medical Center’s Mission, Vision and Values

At UT Medical Center, we are driven by our mission, vision and values.

Our Mission

Our mission is to serve through healing, education and discovery.

As the region’s academic medical center, Magnet® recognized hospital and Level I Trauma Center, The University of Tennessee Medical Center serves as a major referral center for East Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky and Western North Carolina.

The 710-bed hospital also is home of the region’s only dedicated Heart Hospital, only adult and pediatric transplant center, the region’s first certified comprehensive stroke center, a private-room neonatal intensive care unit and serves as a regional perinatal center.

Healing

In an effort to provide comprehensive care to our patients, The University of Tennessee Medical Center offers these Centers of Excellence:

• Brain and Spine Institute
• Cancer Institute
• Emergency and Trauma Services
• Heart Lung Vascular Institute
• Orthopaedic Institute
• Center for Perioperative Medicine
• Primary Care Collaborative
• Center for Women & Infants

A Center of Excellence means more focused care in a critical medical field. It means you have access to a full range of treatment options and quality care. It means the doctors who treat you are so qualified in their specialty that they are entrusted with training future doctors in the field. And it means that every patient can be assured that we are focused on improving treatment protocols, programs and outcomes for every patient.

The dedicated professionals at the medical center thrive in a fast-paced, challenging environment, where expert commitment plays a critical role in the hospital’s ongoing success. The strength and success of the hospital comes from the work of exceptional employees who dedicate themselves to patient care excellence while upholding the hospital’s values of integrity, excellence, compassion, innovation, collaboration and dedication.

Education

Although the primary purpose is to provide excellent patient care, the medical center also prepares tomorrow’s health care providers. The University of Tennessee Medical Center is the home of the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine and the UT College of Pharmacy.

The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine has ten academic departments with more than 400 full-time and volunteer teaching physicians, dentists, and researchers. Approximately 224 residents and fellows currently train in 15 ACGME-accredited specialty and subspecialty programs, and 16 residents train in CODA-accredited general dentistry and AAOMS accredited oral and maxillofacial surgery programs.

Another component of the Graduate School of Medicine is the Preston Medical Library. The library provides reference, research and instruction for UT Graduate School of Medicine faculty, residents, students, physicians, as well as outreach to the community. Through the Consumer & Patient Health Information Service, library staff assists patients, families, and community members in finding information on health-related topics and provides the information free of charge.

In addition to the pharmacy students and the medical and dental residents and fellows, there are nursing students from area colleges, School of Radiography students and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) students.

In 2006, the College of Pharmacy expanded its programs in Knoxville, Tennessee with the construction of a new 15,000 square foot facility on the medical center campus. UT’s College of Pharmacy was ranked 16th among the nation’s doctor of pharmacy programs in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s 2007 edition of American region’s Best Graduate Schools.

Discovery

Doctors and researchers at the medical center and the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, work together diligently to discover new and better ways to detect and treat disease through various research projects and clinical trials. Research projects at the medical center help advance medical knowledge in areas such as imaging and diagnostic technology. Several of our basic science researchers are funded by the National Institutes of Health and related agencies to bring the best of medical care to East Tennessee. In addition, our physicians provide clinical trial opportunities unique to our setting making them readily available to those who seek new medications and treatment. Our research teams work closely with researchers throughout the University of Tennessee system as well as others throughout the nation.

The University of Tennessee Medical Center brings together outstanding patient care, challenging clinical training and stimulating research – all on one campus. For more information, call 865-305-6970.

Our Vision

To lead the transformation to value-based care, delivering excellence in clinical outcomes, patient experiences, medical education and biomedical research.

Our Values

The University of Tennessee Medical Center in accordance with our Mission, Vision and Values is committed to serving the medical needs of citizens of the East Tennessee region. Our values are:

• Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
• Excellence: Striving to be the best at everything we do.
• Compassion: The motivation to help others.
• Innovation: Making meaningful change to improve health care services and create new value for stakeholder.
• Collaboration: Working together to make decisions and achieve a goal.
• Dedication: Devotion to our cause.

Our strategic plan goals and Centers of Excellence are based on the assessment of the region’s health care needs both now and in the future.

Strategic Priorities

In addition to our mission, vision and values, we have three strategic priorities:

• Efficiency/Effectiveness
• Quality/Safety
• Service

About University Health System

The University of Tennessee Medical Center is part of University Health System, Inc. University Health System is a regional health system that comprises The University of Tennessee Medical Center, University Health System Ventures, Inc., and various partnerships and joint ventures with physicians and health care companies.

University Health System is affiliated with the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine and numerous regional hospitals and physician organizations. University Health System supports and collaborates with the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine and other academic endeavors as part of its commitment to excellence in education and research.