1945 to 1959

New Buildings and New Approaches Appear

In 1949, Southwestern Medical College became the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas. Baylor University Hospital grew the fifth largest general hospital in the United States with the opening of the Truett Building in 1950. In 1954, Parkland Hospital moved into an impressive new building on Harry Hines Blvd., and added the word “Memorial” to its name. One year later, Southwestern Medical School moved into its first permanent building adjacent to the new Parkland. In the 1950s, Dallas hospitals began to racially integrate their patient facilities and medical staff, with St. Paul Hospital being the first in the city to allow African-American physicians to practice, in 1954. Parkland pioneered new treatments, with the first open-heart surgery in Dallas in 1956.