Providing the Highest Level of Ptatient-Centered Medical Care

An office to prepare for the founding of the Yamagata University Hospital was created on April 1, 1975 in conjunction with establishment of the Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine. This office was headed by Professor Kunio Ichiyanagi who was to become the first hospital director. On June 4, 1975, a committee was launched to prepare for the founding of the Yamagata University Hospital. On March 10, 1976, the opening of Yamagata University Hospital was approved by Masami Tanaka, Minister of Health and Welfare, under the Medical Service Law. Yamagata University Hospital was established on May 10, 1976. A ceremony was held on October 5, 1976 to commemorate the completion of the Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine and Yamagata University Hospital, and outpatient care began on October 25, with the first inpatients admitted on November 8. When the hospital opened, it had 15 departments and 320 patient beds. By March 13, 1978, two more departments had begun seeing patients, and there were 444 beds. To improve urgent medical care, an emergency department was established in 1999 and took the first steps of operation. In 2002, Professor Takamasa Kayama (formerly head of the Faculty of Medicine) became hospital director and began implementing reforms in the University Hospital based on a new approach. This approach was the creation of a cooperative framework among medical departments for the sake of the patient, while providing world-class medical care in each department. This meant removing the barriers that kept medical departments separate. Based on this policy, the radiology department was reorganized in FY 2006 into two new departments, the diagnostic radiology department and the radiation therapy department, and the higher brain function department and the oncology department were established in 2007, providing advanced and understandable medical care. The clinical cancer center was established in 2007 as part of the cancer center of the Faculty of Medicine, as more disease-specific medical care centers were established under this approach. Then hospital director Takamasa Kayama had applied for approval of the hospital redevelopment plan under this visionary initiative in order to promote more advanced medical care in the future, and the plan was the first to be approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology after the incorporation of national universities in FY 2004. Redevelopment of the hospital began in FY 2005, including construction of a new ward and major renovation of an existing ward, and the new South Ward was completed in FY 2008, Ward renovation was completed in FY 2010, increasing the number of beds to 637. Renovation of the outpatient ward and the central hospital building was completed in FY 2015.