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19 T M C » P U L S E | J U N E 2 0 1 8 worked really hard and went through a time when mortality in heart surgery was common. They would fight through these tough cases, people would die, and they would pick themselves up and go back to work the next day. If they hadn't had that type of self-discipline and courage, we wouldn't be where we are today." 'The next great thing' This summer, more than 50 years after Ella Fondren envisioned Houston Methodist's bur- geoning future from her bed in Room 807, the hospital will open a gleaming new facility. Walter Tower features state-of-the art operating rooms that will replace the Fondren-Brown OR. After running 24/7 for half a century, the Fondren- Brown OR will be demolished and turned into preoperative rooms. It's a bittersweet finale, considering the groundbreaking innovation and history-making surgical procedures that took place within those walls. But even DeBakey wouldn't let nostalgia impede progress. "It's a little sad, but you know what? If you asked Dr. DeBakey, he'd be the first to move on to something better. He would move on in a heartbeat," Reardon said. "He was always looking for the next great thing. If the next great thing required him to get rid of the Fondren OR, he would have done it in a nanosecond." DeBakey died in 2008 at age 99. Reardon recalled a conversation they had a month before DeBakey's death. "The guy was still talking about trials he wanted to do and things he wanted to achieve at 99. He was always moving forward," Reardon said. "He would not mourn the Fondren OR. He would be appreciative of what it has given everyone, but he would look forward to the future." For Noon, who shares DeBakey's progressive outlook, the Fondren-Brown OR's legacy will live on as new innovations are made. "Of course, I'm going to miss it," Noon said. "But then you have to realize you have to miss it … to come up with other things." I n August 2018, more than 50 years after the Fondren-Brown center opened, Houston Methodist Hospital is expected to premiere the Paula and Joseph C. "Rusty" Walter III Tower. The 22-story building will include 366 patient beds, 18 high-tech operating suites for neurosurgery and cardiovascular surgery, six acute care floors, two intensive care floors, and a helipad. "The OR is as modern as modern can be," said Alan Lumsden, M.D., chief of cardiovascular surgery at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center. "I've described what is going to open as the most techno- logically advanced operating rooms in the world." Thanks to a new joint venture between Houston Methodist and Siemens Healthineers, five of the operating rooms will be "hybrid" operating rooms equipped with the latest in medical imaging. By incorporating medical imaging and diagnostic tools—such as angio- grams, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography— with 3-D and augmented reality technology in the operating room, surgeons will be able to perform safer, more effective procedures. As Houston Methodist continues to compete with major hospitals around the country, the move into the modern age of digital technology is an important step in the hospital's evolution. WALTER TOWER Clouds are reflected in Houston Methodist's new Walter Tower, 6551 Bertner Ave., just after sunrise.