Members of the USC Board of Trustees and Keck School of Medicine Board of Overseers gathered April 15 along with university officers, hospital executives, clinical leaders and friends to celebrate the University’s acquisition of USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital. USC Executive Vice President and Provost C.L. Max Nikias welcomed the crowd of invited guests that included Board of Trustees Chairman Edward Roski, Past Chairman Stanley Gold and City of Los Angeles Councilmember Jose Huizar.

“This is a great time for everyone associated with these two hospitals, and for the entire Trojan Family,” Nikias told the audience of more than 120 guests who were gathered in front of USC University Hospital. “We have an extraordinary opportunity to advance the future of research, teaching and patient care here at USC. We also have an unprecedented opportunity to enhance the health and well being of all of the residents of Los Angeles.”

Huizar told the audience that, having grown up in the area around USC, he appreciates the university’s investment in the community. “USC is a valued partner that provides necessary education, information and support to the local community, and so I felt that it was important to be here today to support these acquisitions,” he said.

Nikias invited Roski, Gold, Huizar, Kathryn Sample, wife of USC President Steven B. Sample, and USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital CEO Mitch Creem to ceremoniously pull a cord to unveil a banner designating the USC Academic Medical Center. As the banner was revealed, 100 doves were released into the air to symbolize hope for the patients served.

Guests then enjoyed a festive outdoor luncheon during which CEO Creem outlined his plans for the hospitals, which include hiring more physicians, nurses, technicians and aides. But he emphasized that his vision goes beyond the financial and technological improvements in store for the facilities.

“Being an academic medical center is more than just new equipment and new information systems,” Creem said. “It is about creating a sense of hope, hope that miracles can happen and that they can happen here with our new treatments and our new cures. It’s about giving you all a feeling that, no matter how desperate things feel at times, you have a place to go with people who care.”

Creem’s remarks included a two-minute inspirational video illustrating the commitment of USC’s medical community to the pursuit of excellence in research and patient care.

Dean Carmen A. Puliafito of the Keck School of Medicine commented on what the purchase of the hospitals means to the school, its faculty and students. Before the acquisition, he said, “we were missing a connection to the principle of caring for patients before caring about the bottom line. USC is designed to create new knowledge, to train doctors and students, and to provide care to the community. This acquisition will allow us to put patients above profits and provide first-rate care for our community.”

Vaughn Starnes, surgeon-in-chief for USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, concluded the program, commenting that while many patients today find themselves at the hospitals because they have followed a particular doctor, in the future “people will come here because it is a great medical center, with the expectation that they will find great doctors,” he said.