Institution

Presented by the Alumni Association of the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU), the three-ton, bronze fountain stands five feet high and ten feet in diameter. When it was installed, the bronze piece of the fountain traveled to campus from American Sheet Metal Works on Northeast Glisan via a large truck with a police escort. In its earliest days on campus, the fountain could send plumes up to twenty-five feet in the air.The fountain is a regular gathering space on campus, whether for planned occasions or for lunch or study. It has been dyed and turned bubbly for special events, and attracted birds and visitors of all ages. Each summer, the OHSU Farmer’s Market is held weekly on the lawn surrounding the fountain.

Mackenzie Hall and Alumni Fountain, OHSU Marquam Hill Campus, circa 1960s.

Marquam Hill campus viewed from the west, with the Alumni Fountain in the foreground, circa 1965.

Radiology Class of 1972, posing in front of the Alumni Fountain.

Alumni Fountain concept rendering, early 1960s.

Website

Breaking Ground: Reflections on the Building of OHSU

More Info

Reflections on Yesterday: OHSU School of Medicine History

Book

The alumni fountain on OHSU’s Marquam Hill campus, often referred to as the Mackenzie Hall fountain, was installed on August 29, 1963. When it was installed, an Oregonian newspaper article noted that it was the first fountain to be installed in Portland in over forty years. The three-ton, bronze fountain was designed by architect Lewis Crutcher.

Alumni Fountain, OHSU

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medical School, is a nationally prominent research university and Oregon’s only academic health center. This virtual tour of OHSU's Marquam Hill campus shares history and context of selected buildings associated with the institution. It can be enjoyed from any location, and can be downloaded to a mobile device.  This tour is intended as a historical exploration of selected campus buildings. For maps to navigate the entire current campus, visit our full interactive campus map, which includes customized driving, walking, biking and transit directions, at www.ohsu.edu/map. 

From its founding in 1887 until 1919, the University of Oregon Medical School operated out of small single buildings in Northwest Portland, first in a two-room converted grocery store on Northwest 23rd Avenue and Marshall Street, and later in a converted Victorian building on Northwest 23rd and Lovejoy Street. In 1914, Dean Kenneth A.J. Mackenzie persuaded the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, for whom he served as chief surgeon, to donate twenty acres atop Marquam Hill for the medical school. The land for the campus, unusable to the railroad company, came to be known as “Mackenzie’s Folly” in reference to its location on an inaccessible hilltop, a mile and a half away from the city center. But Mackenzie saw it through a different perspective: He envisioned a medical center far away from the noise and bustle of the city, where learning and healing could carry on undisturbed.Having secured the land, Dr. Mackenzie set about obtaining the funds to construct the new campus on the hill. University officials engaged in a concerted lobbying effort, enjoining state and city officials to support the project. In 1915, the Oregon state legislature approved an appropriation of $50,000 for construction of a new medical school building, with an additional $60,000 for maintenance, with the provision that a remaining $25,000 needed to be raised elsewhere. The City of Portland contributed the remaining sum.The cornerstone of the first campus building, the Medical Science Building, was laid on May 1, 1918. Construction was completed in 1919 and academic activities relocated to the new Marquam Hill location for the 1919-1920 academic year.In 1921, the state legislature approved $113,269.50 in funds for an addition to the original three-story Medical Science Building, on the condition that like funds be secured from other sources. The school secured these funds when the Rockefeller Foundation donated $163,269.50 for building construction and equipment, through the efforts of its general education fund secretary Abraham Flexner. The addition was to be named Mackenzie Hall, in honor of Kenneth A.J. Mackenzie's efforts in founding the campus. Mackenzie Hall (a name which now refers to the building in its entirety) was dedicated on January 13, 1923.

Mackenzie Hall, completed in 1919 and originally named the Medical Science Building, was the first building to be constructed on the Marquam Hill campus of University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU). The building was designed by architect Ellis Lawrence. Later additions include a central wing addition in 1921; a west lab addition in 1939; 5th floor west wing in 1947; and a cafeteria addition in 1968. In the twenty-first century, the building houses School of Medicine academic and administrative facilities as well as the popular Mac Hall cafe.

Mackenzie Hall, OHSU

The Laboratory and Administration building, now named Baird Hall, opened in September 1949. Constructed of reinforced concrete with brick facing, the building was financed through a state appropriation of $663,000 and was designed to include the latest developments in laboratory, classroom and office facilities. According to the 1950 report to the Alumni of the University of Oregon Medical School, the main floor originally included offices of “military science and tactics and mimeographing,” in addition to the business office, registrar’s office, and administrators’ offices. A faculty lounge paneled in walnut was also a feature of the administrative suite. The entire second floor was originally dedicated to the department of physiology, and included laboratories and classrooms as well as administrative offices. The third floor was devoted to the department of pathology. The ground floor, or basement level, was occupied by the Department of Public Health and Preventative Medicine as well as the switchboard facilities.Dr. David W. E. Baird, a graduate of the University of Oregon Medical School (M.D. 1926), intern, instructor, physician, professor and researcher, became the fourth dean of the medical school in 1943, when Dr. Dillehunt retired. Dean Baird believed that medical education would benefit from full-time, dedicated physician educators, rather than relying primarily on physicians in private practice to serve as faculty. He is credited with bringing clinicians to the medical school as full-time faculty members and increasing the number of faculty members dramatically, from 10 in the 1920s to 125 in the 1950s. The Laboratory and Administration building, which opened under Dr. Baird’s tenure, was renamed Baird Hall in 1974.In front of Baird Hall is a piece of public art by noted Columbia Gorge artist, James Lee Hansen: The Bearer Study No. 2, 1974, bronze, 47” x 24” x 12.5”. The piece is visible in the landscaped area to the south of the building.

Opened in 1949 as the Laboratory and Administration Building on the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU) Marquam Hill campus, Baird Hall was built to house the Department of Physiology and administrative offices. The building was designed by architect Ellis Lawrence, who also designed such campus buildings as the OHSU Auditorium and the Campus Services Building. It was renamed Baird Hall after former University of Oregon Medical School Dean Dr. David W. E. Baird shortly after his passing in 1974. In the twenty-first century, the building continues to house administrative offices, laboratories and classrooms.

Baird Hall, OHSU

When Portland businessman Frank S. Doernbecher passed away, his will provided $200,000 for the benefit of the children of the state in any manner deemed acceptable by his executors, his adult children, Ada Doernbecher Morse and Edward M. Doernbecher. The Doernbecher family decided that a hospital for children would be the best allocation of the funds.As several local news editorials noted, hospitals at the time were designed for treating adults. Most lacked play rooms and school rooms, which were needed in case of a child’s long term stay in the hospital. In addition, proponents believed that a dedicated children’s hospital would be better able to cultivate a more cheerful and bright atmosphere than the standard hospital setting.The hospital’s cornerstone was laid in May 1925. Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children officially opened on July 30, 1926. At the time of its opening, the hospital offered 80 beds for patients. Children of Oregon-residing families who were unable to pay were welcomed there at no cost. Children whose families were able to pay all or part of their hospital expenses were also accepted. These families’ payments helped to defray the expenses of providing free care to those in need. Along with patient rooms, the six-story building included administrative offices, kitchens and dining rooms, four surgeries, a family room, and an outpatient clinic, managed by the Portland Junior League.By the 1950s, Oregon's population had grown such that more space was needed for Doernbecher Children's Hospital. The facility moved to consolidate with the new University Hospital (now OHSU Hospital), which was completed in 1955 and contained two dedicated floors with 100 patient beds for pediatric care. Another free-standing Doernbecher facility was completed in 1998.After Doernbecher moved out of the original building, renovations in 1957 converted its facilities into a mix of outpatient clinic space, teaching and clinical laboratories, and administrative offices.

Dillehunt Hall was constructed in 1926 as the original Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children. The facility was established by a donation from Ada Doenbecher Morse and her brother Edward Doernbecher in memory of their father, F.S. Doernbecher, and was the first children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest. It provided care for sick and disabled children and greatly enhanced pediatrics care and education at University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU). In the 1950s, Oregon's population growth led the hospital to consolidate with the University Hospital (now OHSU Hospital), and the operations of Doernbecher Children's Hospital moved out of the building. In 1990, the university re-named the building, then used for outpatient clinics and laboratory space, in honor of former University of Oregon Medical School Dean, Richard Dillehunt. Today, many of OHSU's laboratories are located in Dillehunt Hall.

Dillehunt Hall, OHSU

In the 1920s, the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU) engaged with the independently operated People’s Institute and Free Dispensary on S.W. 4th and Jefferson in downtown Portland to operate outpatient clinics. However, the space was crowded, with laboratories and x-ray facilities alongside exam rooms, and instructors, students and patients crowded into the space. Its downtown location, while convenient, was quite loud, and doctors worried about the many distractions and noise generated by the busy streets outside.This situation improved in 1929 when a gift of $400,000 from the Carnegie-funded General Education Board of New York made possible a modern outpatient clinic on the Marquam Hill campus. In February 1931, all employees of the Portland Free Dispensary were transferred to the new Outpatient Clinic facility along with the financial resources of the Dispensary, which amounted to $49,421. The clinic opened shortly afterward, with the goal of increased capacity to serve patients without financial resources from around the region.The outpatient clinic remained concentrated in this building until additional clinic space opened in buildings such as the new Center for Health &amp; Healing in 2006. At present, Sam Jackson Hall continues to house patient clinic locations. It also houses administrative and academic offices, as well as Sam's Café on the second floor.

In February 1931, the Outpatient Clinic of the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU) opened in a new building on the Marquam Hill campus. Both building and furnishings had been funded by a $400,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. This new building marked the first outpatient clinical facilities on campus. In 2006, the building was renamed Sam Jackson Hall in honor of Charles S. “Sam” Jackson, philanthropist and former publisher of the Oregon Journal, whose family donated 88 acres of land on Marquam Hill in 1924.

Sam Jackson Hall, OHSU

In 1917, Multnomah County appropriated $100,000 for a new hospital in the annual county budget. The county hospital facility at the time, located at Second and Hooker streets in South Portland, was deemed unsafe, overcrowded and in need of many repairs in county reports and local newspapers. The regents of the University of Oregon offered a free site for the facility, making the case that the University of Oregon Medical School campus offered fresh air, plenty of room for treating isolation cases, and proximity to the soon-to-be-constructed laboratories of the new medical school.Multnomah County commissioners held an open house for the public to inspect the new hospital on November 26, 1922. Reports at the time noted that the hospital resembled a giant old castle overlooking the city, appearing through the mist or gleaming in the sunshine, depending on the weather. The hospital initially had room for 250 patients, and was designed in such a way that future wings could be added to accommodate growing demand. The new hospital opened for patient care in 1923 and became Oregon’s first teaching hospital. On August 29, 1923, in a little over three hours, 100 patients and all the equipment were transferred from the site at Second and Hooker streets to the new facility on Marquam Hill.

Multnomah Pavilion was built in 1923 as Multnomah County Hospital, in a partnership between the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU) and Multnomah County. Later additions include an east wing in 1949 and the northwest wing in 1967. The building later came to function primarily as a clinical site for outpatient appointments. In 2020, Multnomah Pavilion became an early COVID-19 vaccination site in Multnomah County, vaccinating healthcare workers.

Multnomah Pavilion, OHSU

Until 1927, when the hall (then known as the Nurses' Dormitory) was built, nursing students lived on the third floor of the Multnomah County Hospital itself. This building was the first dedicated dormitory for student nurses on the Marquam Hill campus.The building is named after Emma Jones, the former superintendent of nursing at Multnomah County Hospital from 1919 to 1944. A graduate of Cook County Nursing School, Jones was instrumental in numerous transitions at the Multnomah County Hospital, including the move from Second Avenue and Hooker Street in 1923, and the planning and construction of the dormitory in 1927. The building was renamed in her honor shortly after her retirement in 1944.Through the 1960s, women students under the age of 21 were generally required to live in on-campus dormitories, which included Emma Jones Hall, Gaines Hall and, later, the Women's Residence Hall. The dormitories upheld strict (by today's standards) policies on curfews, visitors, and leave from campus. Students over 21 were permitted to live off-campus with written permission from parents.In 1973, when Emma Jones Hall no longer served as student housing, the faculty and staff of the School of Nursing relocated their offices into the building from Mackenzie Hall. After the School of Nursing moved into a standalone building in 1992, the building transitioned into other academic offices.

Emma Jones Hall was constructed in 1927 as a dormitory for student nurses in the Multnomah Training School, a predecessor institution to the OHSU School of Nursing. In 1944, it was renamed after Emma Jones, the former nursing superintendent at Multnomah County Hospital who supervised hospital nurses for twenty-five years. An east wing addition was built in 1953. The building ceased to house students in the 1970s and transitioned to academic offices.

Emma Jones Hall, OHSU

The Medical Research Building was completed in 1962. Funds for initial planning of the building were provided by the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon. In 1957, the National Institutes of Health approved a grant for $1.2 million, and the Oregon State Legislature allocated matching funds in 1960, furnishing the funds for the completion of the building.The nine-story structure, designed by the Burns, Bear, McNeil &amp; Schneider architecture group, was inspected and accepted by members of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in October 1962. In November 1962, an open house was held for the public, press, government officials and scientists to tour the $2.5 million, nine-story research center. Visitors toured the new spaces, with research faculty and staff on hand to describe and demonstrate the activities made possible by the new building. Upon opening, the building included laboratory and research quarters for every department in the medical school except for bacteriology, otolaryngology, and pharmacology, all of whom had research space elsewhere on campus.

The Medical Research Building, completed in 1962, is a nine-story building dedicated to research activities on the Marquam Hill campus. The facility includes laboratory, learning and administrative space. The building does not have an entrance of its own, and instead is connected to the Vollum Institute, Mackenzie Hall, and Lanfrom Biomedical Research Building.

Medical Research Building, OHSU

While serving on the board of Tektronix, Inc. a Beaverton-based technology company, OHSU University President Leonard Laster met and became friends with Tektronix’s legal counsel, James Castles. Castles and Laster secured seed funding for the proposed institute from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Tektronix co-founder Howard Vollum, along with his wife, Jean, joined the effort with a generous donation to support initial planning and development of the institute. Senator Mark O. Hatfield, then Oregon's senior U.S. Senator, secured federal funds to construct a building for the new laboratory. Following Vollum’s passing in 1986, an endowment to support the new institute’s research programs was established according to the provisions of his will.Architect Robert J. Frasca, of the architecture firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, sought to create spaces that facilitated flexibility and collegial interaction. Inspired by visits to Oxford and Cambridge, Frasca created a series of common rooms alongside laboratories that encouraged circulation among researchers, including meeting rooms, eating areas, and gallery space. Open laboratory space was designed with an eye towards flexibility as research needs emerged over time. The glass-paned peak that caps the building was originally designed as a greenhouse.The Vollum’s construction led to the development of the present courtyard between Mackenzie Hall, the Medical Science Building, and Richard Jones Hall. The terraced outdoor area, which was previously an alley behind Mackenzie Hall, quickly became a center of campus life.

The Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research opened in 1987. The story of the institute begins in the early 1980s, when Leonard Laster, then the President of OHSU, proposed the formation of a new research center focused on “molecular medicine,” an emerging discipline that was transforming the scientific basis of patient care in the early 1980s. Designed by the architecture firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, the six-story, 67,000 square foot Vollum Institute building was made possible by a $20 million dollar gift from the late philanthropist and co-founder of Tektronix, Howard Vollum. The Vollum Institute, with its host of research laboratories engaged in basic sciences research, is a major center for investigating how the brain functions.

Vollum Institute, OHSU

By the 1960s, the School of Medicine required additional space for instruction and research purposes. In 1968, Dean Charles Holman, M.D., noted the need for the university to produce more physicians, nurses, and medical technologists to meet the needs of the state and region. Yet facilities were already overcrowded: the school was training 92 entering medical students in a space designed for 72. Much-needed lecture and laboratory facilities became available with the construction of the Basic Science Building.Completed in 1971, the building is an eight-story (including basement), 262,617-square-foot structure. The building was designed by Campbell Yost Partners, now Yost Grube Hall, an architectural firm known for its exposed concrete styles. At one point, a blue awning surreptitiously labeled “Club Med” protected its south entrance. Perhaps the most recognizable component of Richard T. Jones Hall is the courtyard sculpture, titled “Vita Mensae.” Created in 1993 by artist Larry Kirkland, the piece has become a campus landmark and popular point of rendezvous for faculty and students.This building houses many research programs, institutes such as the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, and labs, primarily focused on basic sciences.

Richard T. Jones Hall for Basic Medical Sciences, commonly referred to as simply “Richard Jones Hall,” is a dedicated research building with one of the most iconic Marquam Hill campus landmarks: a large, white head sculpture. The building was previously named the Basic Sciences Addition and included space dedicated to Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicity (now Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences). It was renamed Richard T. Jones Hall, after former faculty member, Department of Biochemistry chair, and acting OHSU President (1977-78), Richard T. Jones, M.D., Ph.D, in 2008.

Richard T. Jones Hall for Basic Medical Sciences, OHSU

For the first two decades of the University of Oregon Medical School's time on the Marquam Hill campus, library facilities were located in small (20' by 30') quarters inside of the Medical Science Building (later Mackenzie Hall), along with classrooms, laboratories and central services such as the telephone switchboard.In May 1937, Dr. John E. Weeks, a retired ophthalmologist and member of the library committee, announced a $100,000 gift to build the first dedicated library building for the University of Oregon Medical School, if a matching amount could be found. Dean Richard Dillehunt flew immediately to New York to request a second $100,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, which was granted the following year. A federal PWA (Public Works Administration) grant of $163,350 was also secured later to make a total of $363,350.The building was planned in consultation with the founding librarian for the medical school library, Bertha Hallam, who oversaw the Library from 1919 until her retirement in 1965. School of Medicine Dean Richard B. Dillehunt described the proposed building in a January 23, 1938 newspaper article as having "space for 100,000 books, assembly hall, reading rooms, storage stacks, and an historical division." The south end of the building would house a dedicated auditorium. The north end would be connected to a newly-built west-end laboratory wing of Mackenzie Hall by a brick passageway that would enter the hall on the second floor. This brick passageway would be later removed in 1994 to provide easier access to new buildings behind Mackenzie Hall.The building was designed by architect Ellis F. Lawrence, who also designed Baird Hall, the Campus Services Building, Dillehunt Hall, OHSU Hospital South (1953-57 portion only), Outpatient Clinic (original and additions through 1953), and the 1956 School of Dentistry building (no longer standing).A portion of the collection and the majority of staff moved to the Biomedical Information Communication Center building in 1991. Remaining library space closed to patron access in September 2002. Now primarily known as the OHSU Auditorium, the building houses a mix of conference space, library storage, and administrative and student services offices.

The Auditorium/Old Library building, dedicated on June 7, 1940, was the first library building on the Marquam Hill campus of University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU). Construction began in December 1938, and the Library moved into the new building in October 1939. In the twenty-first century, the building came to house event and conference space, library storage, the Teaching and Learning Center, the Office for International Affairs, and the Student Access office.

OHSU Auditorium/Old Library

On March 3, 1956, public officials, legislators, educators, healthcare professionals and the public converged on the University of Oregon Medical School Marquam Hill campus to hear remarks by Governor Elmo Smith and see Oregon’s newest educational facility, the University of Oregon Medical School Hospital. The dedication was made by Dr. R. E. Kleinsorge, president of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. Welcoming visitors to the hospital, Dr. John R. Richards, Chancellor of the Oregon State System of Higher Education, urged the crowd, “Vision, if you will, that here are merely the means to do a better job of training future doctors, nurses, medical technologists, and to offer post-graduate training work to those who are already in the professions. The building is not the goal; it is the wherewithal to attain the goal of better instruction, fuller research and broader services to the people of the state…”Construction began on the 14-story original structure in the spring of 1953. The hospital's patient capacity included 128 beds for general medical and surgical patients, 31 for psychiatric care, and 118 for pediatrics (marking a move for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital from its previous free-standing building, now Dillehunt Hall). The patient rooms were equipped with what were then state-of-the-art communications systems between the beds and nurses’ stations, and pneumatic tubes whisked charts from the Medical Records department to the hospital admitting department and on to the nurses’ station on each level. The facility also included administrative offices, classrooms, research laboratories and living quarters for resident physicians and interns, as well as occupational and physical therapy departments. The hospital was connected to the Outpatient Clinic (now Sam Jackson Hall) by a covered walkway, which is still standing.In 1972, a nine-story wing was added to the east side of the teaching hospital to house modern surgeries and facilities for a new Department of Radiation Oncology. In 1973, when Multnomah County transferred Multnomah County Hospital (MCH) to the medical school, University Hospital was created through the merger of the former Multnomah County Hospital, the Medical School Hospital, and the outpatient clinics. Multnomah County Hospital became University Hospital North; the Medical School Hospital was renamed University Hospital South.After the Oregon state legislature changed the institution's name to Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) from University of Oregon Health Sciences Center in 1981, the hospital became OHSU Hospital.

OHSU Hospital, built as the University of Oregon Medical School Hospital, joined Multnomah County Hospital (built 1923) and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (built 1926) on the Marquam Hill campus in 1956. The original 14-story structure included inpatient beds for general medical and surgical care, psychiatric care, and pediatrics, as well as research laboratories, classrooms, and a pneumatic tube system for sending charts from the relocated Medical Records department to nurses’ stations on every level. The 9th floor of the hospital connects to several other buildings: Kohler Pavilion, Hatfield Research Center, Doernbecher Children's Hospital, and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (PVAMC) Hospital via a pedestrian sky bridge.

OHSU Hospital

In 1926, the family of prominent Portland newspaper publisher Sam Jackson deeded 25 acres of land on Marquam Hill to the Veterans Bureau for the construction of a veterans hospital. Construction began in 1927, and the hospital was formally dedicated in 1929. A new hospital building was dedicated in 1987, along with an adjacent administration and research building. The only remaining building from the original Veterans Hospital campus is Building #16, which was constructed in 1932. The cornerstone of Building #1, constructed in 1928, remains on display outside the VA auditorium in the main hospital building.Partners since 1948, OHSU and the PVAMC collaborate in many areas of education, patient care and research. During the 1960s the affiliation grew more significant, as medical student clerks and residents undertook about half of their clinical training there under School of Medicine-appointed VA hospital staff. Federal funding supported residents and specialty fellows, including a shared internship in internal medicine established in 1966.For many years, former OHSU School of Medicine Dean John Kendall dreamed of a bridge spanning the 150-foot-deep ravine that separated the two institutions. Kendall and former PVAMC Director Joe Ferry believed that the link would enhance efficiency and collaboration. Ferry authored the first request to Washington, D.C. for the building of such a bridge. In 1992, the two hospitals at last became physically joined with the completion of the 660-foot pedestrian sky bridge, a tangible symbol of the long-term partnership between the PVAMC and the medical school. Federal funding secured by Senator Mark Hatfield assured the completion of the bridge.The dedication ceremony for the sky bridge was held on November 2, 1992. Speakers included OHSU President Peter Kohler, PVAMC Director Barry L. Bell, Senator Mark Hatfield, and School of Medicine Dean John Kendall.

OHSU is connected to the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (PVAMC) by a 660-foot-long pedestrian sky bridge, which was dedicated in 1992 and opened in 1993. The original veterans hospital on Marquam Hill was dedicated in 1929. Besides connecting the PVAMC to the OHSU Hospital physically, the structure symbolizes the integration of academic, research and clinical work between the two institutions.

Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and OHSU/PVAMC skybridge 

Kenneth Swan, M.D., founded the Department of Ophthalmology at University of Oregon Medical School in 1945, and built the department with a growing number of colleagues over the following decades. Under Swan’s leadership, the department started the first three-year ophthalmology residency program in the Pacific Northwest. The department continually outgrew its facilities, from temporary rooms in Mackenzie Hall, to an expansion into the Outpatient Clinic (now Sam Jackson Hall) with an eye clinic sponsored by the Oregon State Elks, into the Laboratory and Administration Building (now Baird Hall) and into the tenth floor of the OHSU Hospital.During the 1980s, Dr. Swan partnered with his successor as Chair of Ophthalmology, Dr. Fredrick Fraunfelder, to raise OHSU's first significant capital campaign, a $31 million effort to construct the Casey Eye Institute. The institute opened on July 16, 1991, and was named for James and George Casey, founders of United Parcel Service. An early design created by world-renowned architect Richard Meier was not able to be completed within the available budget and the project instead was completed by Portland’s GBD Architects.With six operating rooms, four minor surgery rooms, nine lasers and over fifty individually designed exam rooms, the institute offered a marked upgrade in clinical ophthalmology facilities. Before Casey Eye Institute opened, sixty percent of OHSU's eye surgeries required a stay in the hospital, but in the innovative new facility, ninety percent were completed with just a visit.The Oregon State Elks have long partnered with Casey Eye Institute and its predecessors to improve ophthalmic care in the state, particularly for children. The Elks have contributed millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer work hours to the institute. In 1949, significant contributions from the Oregon State Elks enabled the establishment of the first children's eye clinic in an academic setting in the United States. In 2020, The Elks Children’s Eye Clinic moved into a state-of-the-art facility adjacent to Casey Eye Institute.

The Casey Eye Institute, opened in 1991, brings together ophthalmic education, research and treatment into one center. With roots stretching back to 1945, when Dr. Kenneth Swan founded the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU), Casey Eye Institute’s facilities now anchor the Terwilliger Road entrance to the OHSU Marquam Hill campus.

OHSU Casey Eye Institute

By the late 1950s, the university observed a need for a central campus hub for athletics, recreation and interest groups for the University of Oregon Medical and Dental Schools (now OHSU). Plans for a $350,000 building were submitted to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in 1958. In a shared announcement regarding the plans, Dean David Baird of the Medical School and Dean Harold Noyes of the Dental School reminded, “students engaged in a professional education are subject to many pressures demanded by rigorous academic schedules. Now for the first time, a facility will be available where they may participate in and enjoy many types and kinds of recreational activities.” The building, designed by the architecture firm Burns, Bear, McNeil and Schneider, was completed in June 1960.W. C. “Bud” Dockery was hired as the first director of the Student Activities Building in April 1960, and set to work ensuring a variety of athletic and leisure activities were supported for students on the Marquam Hill campus. The gymnasium hosted practices and games for basketball teams from the Medical and Dental Schools, as well as other intramural athletic activities.Through the 1960s, the medical and dental schools maintained individual basketball teams, who competed in the City of Portland Metropolitan League along with teams from University of Portland, George Fox, Reed and Concordia College. Students from the medical and dental schools also joined forces on a varsity basketball team to compete against teams from other institutions. Intramural activities, including softball, basketball and golf, eclipsed alumni-sponsored athletics by the 1970s.In addition to athletics and leisure activities, university events such as “welcome to campus” receptions and commencement ceremonies for individual schools were held in the facility in the decades following its construction. More recent amenities include a media room, the Food Resource Center, the Nucleus Lounge with rotating art displays, and computer and study rooms.

The Student Activities Building (now the Student Center) on OHSU's Marquam Hill campus opened for the 1960-61 academic year. Facilities in the newly opened building included a full-sized gymnasium capable of hosting athletic events as well as large gatherings, a flexible meeting and dance space, a game room, squash court and tennis courts. The Student Activities Building board included faculty and student members from the dental, nursing and medical schools. Later additions include a pool and a media room. The facility offers a variety of social activities and intramural sports such as basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer.

Student Center, OHSU

The School of Nursing building, opened in 1992, is the first dedicated Marquam Hill campus building for the school in its history. The school grew out of several predecessor programs: the Multnomah Training School (opened 1910), the Portland School for Social Work (opened 1920), and a five-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in the University of Oregon (initiated 1926). These programs were integrated into the University of Oregon and became the Department of Nursing Education in the University of Oregon School of Medicine (now OHSU). Prior to the construction of this building, Portland faculty offices and classrooms were dispersed across other campus buildings, namely Mackenzie Hall and Emma Jones Hall.The groundbreaking ceremony for the long-awaited School of Nursing building took place in the spring of 1990. Dean Carol Lindeman was joined by Senator Mark Hatfield, OHSU President Peter Kohler, Chancellor Thomas Bartlett and National Center for Nursing Research Director Ada Sue Hinshaw to speak on the occasion.The building, designed by architect Thom Hacker of Garfield, Hacker and Associates was funded by a joint effort: A federal grant of $12 million was secured by Senator Hatfield, and the State of Oregon contributed $1.825 million. A statewide capital campaign of $4.2 million provided the resources for technology and interior furnishings to make the building functional. Alumni continued their support for the building by contributing bricks for the courtyard, chairs for the auditorium, benches for the halls, and sponsorship of rooms.When faculty and staff moved into the newly opened building in the spring of 1992, it marked the first time that Portland faculty, staff and programs in the School of Nursing would work all under one roof. Described in Architecture magazine as “quiet, site-sensitive [and] rooted in an elegant structural logic,” the building houses School of Nursing programs, faculty and staff offices, and educational space.

The School of Nursing building, opened in 1992, is the first dedicated building for the school on OHSU's Marquam Hill campus. Prior to the construction of the school, faculty offices and classrooms were dispersed across other campus buildings, namely Mackenzie Hall and Emma Jones Hall. The building houses the school's statewide administration and many academic and research facilities.

School of Nursing, OHSU

The University State Tuberculosis Hospital, completed in 1939, served as the state’s primary tuberculosis hospital, provided valuable training in the case of this major disease, and participated in national programs to eradicate the disease. The 80-bed hospital relied on X-ray diagnosis, and treatments included surgery and light therapy. In 1944, streptomycin, the first drug found to be effective against tuberculosis, was introduced. Many University of Oregon Medical School nursing and medical students had clinical rotations in the hospital, crossing a wooden pedestrian bridge across the canyon between the university campus and the hospital.In 1954 the newspapers reported that, for the first time since the University State Tuberculosis Hospital opened its doors in 1939, there was no waiting list for new cases. University of Oregon Medical School Dean, David E. Baird, said in a report to the State Board of Control, that the disappearance of the waiting list was due to several advances: the expansion of the Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital in Salem, decreased periods of hospitalization thanks to the introduction of antibiotics such as streptomycin and viomycin, in combination with other medicines, and advances in surgical procedures. Early detection and isolation also reduced exposure for much of the uninfected population. However, this didn't mean that there were fewer tuberculosis cases reported; it simply meant that patients were being treated with less advanced stages of the disease, and as a result, hospital stays were shorter.By the 1960s, with additional antibiotics and improved public health measures, extensive inpatient treatment at tuberculosis hospitals was no longer in high demand. In 1963, the State Legislature combined the Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital in Salem with the University State Tuberculosis Hospital. As a result, patients located in the University State Tuberculosis Hospital were transferred to Salem. The number of patients receiving in-hospital treatment continued to dwindle, however, and in 1967 the Legislature closed the Salem hospital for good, and moved the remaining 65 patients back to the then-vacant University Tuberculosis Hospital. At that point, the University facility became the last tuberculosis hospital in operation in Oregon. The hospital was closed permanently in 1973, with the patient population having dwindled to 13 individuals. The former University State Tuberculosis Hospital now serves as the Campus Services Building for OHSU.

The Campus Services Building on OHSU's Marquam Hill campus began as the 80-bed University State Tuberculosis Hospital, completed in 1939. For 25 years, the hospital served as Oregon’s primary tuberculosis hospital. After antibiotics and public health measures led to the decline in tuberculosis, the hospital closed in 1963 and patients were transferred to the Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital in Salem. After the Oregon State Tuberculosis Hospital closed in 1969, patients from that hospital were moved back to the University State Tuberculosis Hospital until 1973, when the hospital closed for good. The building was then converted to the Campus Services Building. The Department of Public Health and Preventative Medicine is still housed in this building. A double-barred cross, a symbol of the worldwide fight against tuberculosis, remains visible on the front facade of the building.

Campus Services Building, OHSU

Gaines Hall was originally built as the Portland Medical Hospital. Previously located at 634 Lovejoy Street, the Portland Medical Hospital was a 35-bed hospital founded in 1916 by Dr. Noble Wiley Jones to care for chronically ill patients. This larger and more modern hospital on Gaines Street, with a 75-bed capacity, was built four blocks south of the medical school campus and six blocks west of the Veteran’s Hospital.Patients arrived at the building on January 13, 1932. A notice in the February 1932 issue of Northwest Medicine called the building, “outstanding in the new conception of hospital design,” noting that “its exterior appearance is that of a large country house,” and that “the patients’ rooms are decorated and furnished in the manner of a well-appointed home.” Other notable features were a large lecture hall designed to offer classroom instruction to patients on caring for themselves after leaving the hospital, and a gymnasium area for exercise. All fourteen physicians on the hospital staff were also on the faculty of the medical school.Dr. Jones and his partners at the Portland Clinic, Tom Joyce, Frank Kistner, and Laurence Selling, all on the hospital staff, intended to eventually turn the hospital over to the University of Oregon Medical School as a research unit. The start of the Second World War put those plans permanently on hold. The school began a concerted effort to educate additional nurses for the war effort, and acquired the building in 1943 in order to convert it into a student nurses’ dormitory.Gaines Hall, as it was renamed, continued as a dormitory for incoming nursing students through the 1960s, and first-year students would traditionally reside there before moving to Emma Jones Hall or Katherine Hall after their capping ceremony. Women students under 21 attending the School of Nursing were required to live in campus dormitories or with their families.By the 1960s, with the construction of the now-demolished Women’s Residence Hall, the former dormitory space was reallocated to administrative offices and programs. In the twenty-first century, Gaines Hall came to house a mix of academic programs, offices and classrooms.

Formerly the Portland Medical Hospital for chronically ill patients, Gaines Hall was first occupied in 1932 as a 75-bed inpatient facility. Obtained by the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU) during World War II for use as a nursing student dormitory, Gaines Hall later became the home of OHSU academic programs, offices and classrooms.

Gaines Hall, OHSU

The original CCD building was completed in 1954. It was financed through a $280,000 appropriation approved by the 1953 Legislature. The $3,720,000 Center, located next to the original building, opened in 1971 and was financed by a State appropriation of $981,000 and a $2,736,000 construction grant from the U.S. Public Health Service. Designed by architects Campbell-Yost and Partners, the building was dedicated on January 23rd, 1971. The striking Brutalist design features a two-story, hand-carved wood sculpture by renowned artist Leroy Setziol, donated by the architects. Additional features include sloping exterior walls made of wood, brick, and glass.Now collectively known as the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center, the two buildings are connected by a breezeway and includes 122,510 square feet throughout three distinct units, connected by pedestrian passageways and patios. The buildings include a variety of observational spaces as well as research and administrative offices. In addition to providing more complete and comprehensive care to patients, the 1971 addition included a much-needed expansion to the Center's teaching program for medical and educational personnel.

The Child Development and Rehabilitation Center (CDRC), formerly known as the Crippled Children's Division (CCD), houses academic, research, and administrative offices. The CDRC refers to both a building and a program that provides clinical care and conducts research to provide services to children with special health needs. The facility is made up of the original building constructed in 1954 and an additional building dedicated in 1971. The CDRC is located between SW Veterans Hospital and Gaines roads, near the Portland VA Medical Center.

Child Development and Rehabilitation Center, OHSU

Charles Dotter (1920 - 1985) was a vascular radiologist credited with developing the field of interventional radiology. Dotter, who served as chair of OHSU’s Department of Radiology from 1952 to 1985, conceived that many ailments could be treated by accessing the body’s circulatory system. He became well-known internationally for performing the first percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in 1964. The technique that Dotter pioneered in the procedure became known as “Dottering” a patient. Dotter’s contributions to the field also include the development of the modern grid-controlled x-ray tube, flow-directed balloon catheterization, double-lumen balloon catheterization, and the safety guidewire. In 1967, the Czech radiologist Josef Rösch, M.D., accepted Dotter’s invitation to a fellowship at the University. Together, Dotter and Rösch led a team in developing new devices and procedures, such as techniques for treating arterial gastrointestinal bleeding and retrieving foreign materials from the heart and large vessels via catheter.Dotter dreamed of establishing a center focused on advancing education and research in the field of interventional radiology, but passed away in 1985 before realizing that vision. Colleagues and friends continued that vision: Catheter manufacturing magnate William Cook donated $2 million towards the establishment of the Dotter Interventional Institute. The Oregon State Legislature was convinced to approve the creation of the institute, and in 1990 the Dotter Interventional Institute became a freestanding division within the OHSU School of Medicine, with Josef Rösch as its founding director.

The Dotter Interventional Institute was established by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in April 1990. Named after the radiologist often referred to as the "Father of Interventional Radiology," Charles Theodore Dotter, the Dotter Institute is an educational and research division within the OHSU School of Medicine, focusing on interventional therapy. Prior to housing the Dotter Institute, this building served as a firehouse and the Center for New Ventures.

Dotter Institute, OHSU

Prior to the construction of the Tram, the Marquam Hill campus was only accessible via two tight and winding, two-lane forest roads. The Tram was the solution to this limitation, allowing the hilltop campus to flourish. An international design competition took place for the Tram, with the Zurich- and Los Angeles-based firm Angelil/Graham/Pfenninger/Scholl Architecture winning. There was significant community resistance to the tram, especially in regards to increasing construction time and operation costs. The construction of the tram was predicted to cost $15.5 million but ended up totaling $57 million. Two tram cabins operate out of the station, named Jean and Walt, after Jean Richardson, the first female engineering graduate from Oregon State University, and Dr. Walter Reynolds, the first African American to graduate from OHSU (then University of Oregon Medical School). Both graduated from their respective programs in 1949. The cabins were made in Switzerland and travel 3,300 linear feet from the Waterfront to the Hill. Each travels at 22 miles per hour and the ride lasts about four minutes. Though initially controversial, the Tram has become an iconic Portland landmark. It even had a MySpace page back in the late 2000s!

The Portland Aerial Tram was constructed in 2006 and began operation in 2007, offering a solution to the limited accessibility of Marquam Hill. The construction of the Tram was not without resistance, from concerns from residents in the affected areas to ever increasing construction time and costs. The Tram connects the South Waterfront with OHSU's main campus on Marquam Hill, collapsing the distance between the two spaces. The Tram is not only a feat of engineering, but an iconic Portland landmark and one of only two commuter aerial tramways in the country. The City of Portland owns the Tram and is responsible for maintenance and OHSU oversees its operation.

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Marquam Hill Campus History Tour

Alumni Fountain, OHSU

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information