HOUSTON – Hurricane Ike did a number on Galveston, including shutting down the University of Texas Medical Branch that operates on the island.
Instead of shutting down or downsizing the hospital, UTMB collected funds and rebuilt.
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Around $1 billion worth of improvements have been made to “harden” buildings to better withstand storms, install a new air conditioning and heating system as well as add a new power plant, among other upgrades and rebuilds.
On Feb. 26, they will dedicate a new hospital in the name of Jennie Sealy. The new hospital will have all the medical bells and whistles, including a surgery suite with a built-in MRI so that surgeons can wheel a patient in the operating room to determine how a surgery is proceeding.
Nearly all of the patient rooms in the new Jennie Sealy Hospital feature a view of the Gulf of Mexico, the harbor or Galveston Bay, which can prove to be therapeutic for patients.