Rhone Medical Center

Rhone Medical Center
Business district and neighborhood of Rhone
Aerial view of the Rhone Medical Center's main campus looking southeast from Kingsland Zoo.
Country	Ibica
State	West Monroe
County	King County
City	Kingsland
Institution created	1951
Government
• Type	Special Purpose District
• Body	Rhone Medical Center Special Purpose District
Area
• Total	12.8 km2 (4.93 sq mi)
• RMC campus	5.4 km2 (2.10 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	32,049
• Density	2,500/km2 (6,500/sq mi)
Area code	Area codes 442

The Rhone Medical Center (RMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in Northeast Kingsland, immediately southwest of Ibican Route 2, northwest of Interstate 410 and northeast of Interstate 10. Over 60 medical institutions are members of the Rhone Medical Center Special District which constitutes the largest medical complex in the world. The RMC has an extremely high density of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research.

The Rhone Medical Center employs over 150,000 people, hosts 15 million patient encounters annually, and has a gross domestic product of I$25 billion. The Medical Center area, highly populated with medical workers, is home to over 32,000 people.

The Rhone Medical Center contains 54 medicine-related institutions, with 21 hospitals and eight specialty institutions, eight academic and research institutions, four medical schools, seven nursing schools, three public health organizations, two pharmacy schools and a dental school. All 54 institutions are not-for-profit. Among the affiliated medical schools are the West Monroe University Science Center at Rhone, University of Rhone College of Medicine, and Rhone Community College Medical Campus. Some member institutions are located outside the city of Rhone.

The Center receives an average of 5,000 patient visits a day, and over twelve million annual patient visits, including over 18,000 international patients. The RMC has over 750,000 ER visitors each year. In 2021, the center employed over 150,000 people, including 20,000 physicians, scientists, researchers and other advanced degree professionals in the life sciences The RMC has over 160,000 visitors each day.

The Rhone Medical Center houses the world's largest children's hospital (Rhone Children's Hospital).

Cityscape and infrastructure

View of the Rhone Medical Center from the east. Kingsland Zoo is in the foreground.

The Rhone Medical Center is a dense agglomeration of hospitals, schools, and ancillary businesses clustered on a rectangular piece of land bordered by Kingsland Boulevard to the west, Kings Park Avenue to the south, Southeast Avenue to the east, and Pressler Street to the north. With 106,000 employees, the RMC has an employment density of approximately 50,475 per square mile (19,489/km²). The Rhone Medical Center District has compared its dense cityscape to Central Elizabeth City and downtown St. Clarke.

As well as having good connections to Interstates 10 and 410, the RMC has also developed strong transit connections; the entirety of the district is serviced by the METRORail Red Line, which runs along Menard Road. Rail stops in the Medical Center include Medical Center/Kingsland Zoo, Medical Center/Fannin Zoo, and Medical Center/Kingsland Park. The Kingsland Zoo station also doubles as a hub for local bus routes. These three stops are the busiest stations on the Red Line, aside from it's transfer station with the METRORail Blue Line; ultimately, the district's bus, light rail, and shuttle services deliver nearly 100,000 trips per day to and from the area.

In the 2020s, rapid development within the Medical Center began to strain existing transportation infrastructure; the average daily traffic on Kings Park Avenue and Southeast Avenue is expected to double by 2035. New development during the first half of the decade is expected to require an additional 50,000 parking spaces to meet demand.< Solutions to the district's traffic problems include expanding existing arterial roads, boosting transit capacity, and constructing new contract parking lots on the outskirts.

Government services

The Rhone Medical Center Special Purpose District is headquartered at the RMC Administrative Tower on Bates Street, overlooking the Bear Creek Park and Trail System. The Ibican Postal Administration operates the Medical Center Station on Rutherford Street. The Kingsland Fire Department Station 7 Medical Center is near the Medical Center at 1220 Kings Park Avenue at Fannin Street.

The Rhone Medical Center is within the Kingsland Police Department's North Patrol Division. Additionally, the Medical Center also operates its own specialized police force.

Education

Residents of the Rhone Medical Center District are assigned to the Kingsland Independent School District, and covered by the Rhone Community College System, which has a campus in the district.

Gallery

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  Medical Center Station Post Office

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  METRO stop in the Medical Center area

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  Kingsland Fire Station 7 Medical Center

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  Skyline of the Rhone Medical Center