Former Texas Gov. William P. Clements Jr. will be memorialized with a new hospital as part of the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

With an expected completion in late 2014, the new William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital will replace the existing St. Paul University Hospital.

UT Southwestern CEO Dr. John Warner said the hospital will not only be innovative and beautifully constructed, but its focus will be centered on patient care.

“This new hospital focuses on the three aspects of UT Southwestern medical care,” Warner said. “It will be there to provide outstanding patient care, an area for education as well as serve as a research institution.”

The new facility will be able to take patient care to a new level, and the hospital is excited to have the support of the Clements family, Warner said.

“The Clements family has been involved with the efforts of medical care in Dallas for decades,” Warner said. “Having this new hospital named after former Gov. Clements will be an honor.”

According to the plans for the hospital, the new facility will have 460 all-private patient rooms and will integrate research and clinical care by providing patients with technology they need in each of the rooms. Gov. Clements donated $100 million to the university in 2009 that will be used to construct the $800 million hospital.

“Gov. Clements’ only instruction when he made this remarkable gift more than two years ago was that it be used for something that would have a transformational impact on UT Southwestern,” said UT Southwestern President Dr. Daniel Podolsky. “We were deeply honored by his confidence and are now pleased and proud to name our new hospital in commemoration of a true Texas giant, certain that it will have the transformational effect he envisioned.”

Anthony de Bruyn, assistant vice chancellor for public affairs said the Board of Regents’ said members were unanimous in their decision making because of the long-standing relationship between the UT System and the Clements family.

“When an institution puts in a name request for the approval of the Board of Regents, we analyze what it will mean to have a new facility with their namesake,” de Bruyn said. “UT Southwestern submitted the request in to the Board, and we were eager to memorialize the Clements name in the UT System.”

Ehssan Faraji, biomedical engineering and pre-med junior said the plans for integrating research in the health care system is an innovative step that he believes will help the overall care of patients in the long run.

“Incorporating elements such as in-room monitors to analyze charts and images as well as video conferencing capabilities might seem like minor changes to a room,” Faraji said. “But these are all things that can significantly improve the diagnostic process.”

Printed on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 as: Hospital to be named after former governor