Since 1902, the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) has been providing the highest standards of care to patients across Lebanon and the region. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine at AUB (established in 1867) which has trained generations of medical students and physicians; and its graduates can be found at leading institutions around the world. AUBMC is the only medical institution in the Middle East to have earned the three international accreditations of JCI Magnet and CAP, attesting to its superior standards in patient-centered care, nursing, and pathology/laboratory services. Our goal is to provide the highest standards of patient-centered care, quality and safety partnered with service excellence. We at AUBMC will continue to focus on quality in an effort to continuously improve the services provided to patients.

When the current medical center was established and built in 1970, it transformed the delivery of health care in Lebanon and the Middle East; the results of which we still feel today, over 40 years later. To continue to maintain its leadership position in Lebanon and the region, AUBMC is committed to an ambitious new vision for the future – the AUBMC 2020 vision which will propel the Medical Center and medical care in the region to new levels of excellence and transform the delivery of health care for the next 100 years.

AUBMC ‘s 2020 vision is to be the leading academic medical center in Lebanon and the region by delivering excellence in patient-centered care, outstanding education and innovative research. We believe with a strong conviction that the plans we have outlined for the coming 9 years will allow us to compete with the best academic medical centers in the West. AUBMC is dedicated to plans to provide increased comprehensive medical services in terms of the type of these services, their number, and their availability to the largest possible constituents both in Lebanon and the region. We are also dedicated to our heritage of strong academics and an unwavering commitment to research. Our new AUBMC 2020 journey will follow six major paths.

• The first path is the development and implementation of the new AUBMC 2020 Medical Complex. The 2020 AUB Medical Complex includes a major expansion of the medical center. It will grow from an approximately 350 bed institution to a six hundred bed medical complex to include a new adult hospital, a new pediatric hospital - one of the first in the entire Middle East, and two new administrative and academic buildings, in addition to renovation of the Diana Tamari Sabbagh building which houses the medical school. In 2020, AUBMC will look very different from what it is today. Many of you may have already seen initial phases of this massive plan being implemented around the medical center campus.
  
  
• The second path to attain our 2020 vision is the recruitment of top-caliber, highly specialized and accomplished faculty. AUBMC will continue to recruit the best available candidates in their field from all over the world. This is not restricted to our medical staff, but extends across all functions. With our goals for expansion, there is a need for a greater number of physicians to meet the needs of an increasing number of patients. Over the past year and a half, AUBMC has been able to recruit 40 new Academic Faculty members mainly from the North America. This type of recruitment is unprecedented.
  
  
• The third path is a relentless focus on understanding the patient and his/her changing needs in order to deliver the highest standards of patient-centered care. As embodied in our new slogan “Our Lives are dedicated to yours” the patient is at the heart of what we do. As such, in September 2010 a Patient Affairs Team was established. Having a team solely designated to monitor and regulate patient affairs will only improve the patient experience at AUBMC.
  
  
• The fourth path is innovation through the creation of clinical and research Centers of Excellence that look to meet the needs of the people of Lebanon and the region. Currently AUBMC is home to three Centers of Excellence: the Abu-Haidar Neuroscience Institute, the Naef K. Basile Cancer Center and Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon. As part of our future plans we will be establishing this summer the first Multiple Sclerosis Center in the Region, as well as a heart and vascular center in the near future. These centers of excellence will provide a multi-disciplinary approach aimed at providing comprehensive care to patients.
  
  
• The fifth path is the continued establishment of strategic partnerships and collaborations locally, regionally and internationally. Led by our External Medical Affairs Office, many such partnerships have already been signed and our goal is to continue to expand our network. These partnerships help improve access to more patients, provide training opportunities, and cater to clinical exchange and collaboration. Also, we want to be the institution of choice for medical institutions in the region looking for a partner to help with capacity building.
  
  
• The sixth and final path is a strong commitment to our academic and research mission. AUBMC has always been and will continue to be a leader in the Middle East with respect to the provision of medical education and research.

We have quite an ambitious journey ahead, but with the loyalty and support of AUB leadership, our dedicated faculty and staff, and our community, we know that this can be accomplished. In 2011 and beyond, our commitment to you is that “our lives are dedicated to yours.