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In
1943, representatives of the Texas Medical Center convinced Baylor
University in Waco to move Baylor University College of Medicine from
Dallas to Houston. The Department of Ophthalmology was founded that
same year with the establishment of the College of Medicine in Houston
and Everett L. Goar, M.D., was appointed Professor and first Chair.
Medical student lectures in ophthalmology were initially held in a
warehouse building near downtown Houston and clinical teaching was
conducted in the private office of Dr. Goar and an eye clinic at Jefferson
Davis City-County Hospital. In 1949, the Veterans Administration assumed
control of the naval hospital in Houston and the VA Hospital became
Baylor's first affiliated hospital. The College moved to the Texas
Medical Center in 1947 following the completion of the Roy and Lillie
Cullen Building, which included space for teaching, research, and
patient care for the Department of Ophthalmology. The Methodist Hospital
moved to the Texas Medical Center in 1951 and became the College's
major affiliated private adult hospital. The Department trained two
apprentice ophthalmologists during the period of 1943 to 1953 and,
in 1954, established a three-year residency training program in ophthalmology.
The program acquired additional teaching facilities following the
opening in the Texas Medical Center of Texas Children's Hospital in
1954 and the Ben Taub General Hospital of the Harris County Hospital
District in 1963.
Dr.
Goar retired as Chair in 1958 and Louis J. Girard, M.D., was appointed
Professor and Chair. The Department moved into new teaching, research,
patient care, and administrative facilities in the Jewish Institute
for Medical Research on Baylor's East Campus in 1963. In 1969, Baylor
College of Medicine separated from Baylor University in Waco and became
a private, independent medical school. Dr. Girard resigned as Chair
in 1970 and David Paton, M.D., was appointed Professor and Chair in
1971.
In
1969, Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital agreed
to build a unique health care facility devoted to neurosensory diseases,
the Neurosensory Center of Houston. In 1971, the Cullen Foundation,
established by Hugh Roy and Lillie Cullen, gave a major gift on behalf
of the Ophthalmological Institute of the Neurosensory Center. The
fundraising campaign for the Center was initiated in 1972. Research
to Prevent Blindness, Inc., contributed a major gift and helped direct
the planning and fundraising for ophthalmology. The Neurosensory Center
and the Cullen Eye Institute were formally dedicated on September
25, 1977, and the scientific dedication of the Cullen Eye Institute
was held on February 22-25, 1978. In 1981, Dan B. Jones, M.D., was
appointed Chair following the resignation of Dr. Paton.
Through
a major gift from Mr. Albert B. Alkek, a Houston philanthropist and
member of Baylor's Board of Trustees, the Department opened the Alkek
Eye Center in the Smith Tower of The Methodist Hospital and Baylor
College of Medicine in 1989. The Center is the principal outpatient
facility for the full-time clinical faculty and is connected by air
bridge to the Cullen Eye Institute and the Neurosensory Center. In
1991, the Department acquired new clinical facilities in pediatric
ophthalmology with the opening of the Eye Clinic of the Feigin Center
of Texas Children's Hospital. The completion of two new affiliated
public hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, the Ben Taub General
Hospital in January, 1990, and Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center
in 1991, further expanded the Department's facilities and programs
for teaching, patient care, and clinical research.