The American Medical Association held a dedication ceremony Thursday morning to celebrate the opening of its new location in an iconic downtown Chicago skyscraper. Built in 1972 and formerly known as the IBM Building, the AMA's new headquarters is the last American office building designed by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and it now goes by the name “AMA Plaza.”
The oldest and largest physician organization and its approximately 1,000 employees will be housed in the floors 39-47 of the 52-story building located between the Trump Tower and the House of Blues. Although rumors of a move to Washington surface from time to time, the 166-year-old AMA has been based in downtown Chicago since 1902 and this is the fourth location it has called home. All four locations are within a few blocks of each other, and the AMA had been at its previous site—designed by architect Kenzo Tange—since 1990.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel noted at the event that the AMA Plaza was the “youngest building” in the city to achieve historic landmark designation. And, with the AMA moving in, Emanuel said it brings together Chicago's tradition of fine architecture and the city's commitment to public health. He boasted that Chicago Lives Healthy, the wellness program for city employees, now has 36,000 participants and claimed that every child in Chicago will soon be within a seven-minute walk of a new park as the city rebuilds its public playgrounds.
Neither the mayor nor any of the other speakers mentioned his brother, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania department of medical ethics and health policy, but the mayor's tenure as President Barack Obama's chief of staff was mined for a few laughs.
“I did hope that, when I left his side, I would never have to deal with healthcare again,” Emanuel said.
Dr. James Madara, AMA executive vice president and CEO since 2011, referenced the AMA's long history with the city and how he was recruited here 11 years ago to become dean of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
“We hope to be as valuable an asset to Chicago as Chicago has been to us,” Madara said after applauding the Chicago Lives Healthy initiative and pointing out that the AMA headquarters hosts a station for Chicago's new public bicycle-sharing program. He added that the intent of the AMA's work in its new headquarters is to make the organization's mission statement—to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health—come to life.
Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven, AMA president and an infectious disease specialist from Lexington, Ky., said the new home will “help spark formative change” in the AMA's new direction, which is aimed at improving health outcomes, accelerating change in medical education and shaping new healthcare delivery models. “It's an exciting time for the AMA, rich with opportunity,” Hoven said. “This is important work, and we're just getting started.”
In an interview, Madara said the AMA is shifting from measuring processes to measuring outcomes and from being just a convening organization to one that convenes and partners with others to advance the direction Hoven had outlined.
To that end, Madara said, the building's entire 47th floor is now a conference center where the AMA can host events to advance its goals. Each floor has space designed for “spontaneous meetings” of staff and its layout is much more conducive for 1,000 people to interact.
“We've completely reorganized departments and staff,” he said. “This building is much more open in its floor plan, and already we detect a higher degree of interaction and productivity.”
And though his name didn't come up during the dedication ceremony, Madara said Ezekiel Emanuel does collaborate with the AMA and served as an “external reviewer” of materials connected to the organization's new strategic direction.
“The mayor's brother is actually a good friend of ours,” Madara said. “Ezekiel gave us some wonderful input and feedback.”
While it's definitely the largest, the 224,500-member AMA is not the only national physician organization based in the Chicago area that is moving its headquarters.
The 50,000-member American Society of Anesthesiologists is expected to move next year from Park Ridge, a suburb on the city's northwest border, to the more distant northwest suburb of Schaumburg after construction of its new headquarters is complete. The 36,000-member American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons will be moving to a new building less than two blocks away from its current location in Rosemont, a suburb next to O'Hare International Airport. The move is expected to be completed in 2015.
Later on Thursday, while on a flight to Washington, the mayor came to the aid of a hyperventilating man who was sitting across the aisle from him, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Perhaps inspired by his morning spent with doctors at the AMA, Emanuel reportedly sprung from his seat and helped the man lay down in the aisle. He stayed with the man until two doctors arrived to attend to the passenger. It was also reported that Emanuel then switched his seat in coach with one of the physicians who was sitting in first class, so the doctor could be closer to the recovering passenger.
Follow Andis Robeznieks on Twitter: @MHARobeznieks
