Baptist Health Sciences University

There are a number of colleges and universities in Memphis, TN, and several are health science schools. Here at the University of Memphis we have several health sciences-related colleges (e.g., the College of Health Sciences, the Lowenberg College of Nursing, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and the School of Public Health). About two miles from our campus, Christian Brothers University has an undergraduate nursing program and a Physician Assistant program. But in both cases the primary focus of our respective institutions is not health sciences but more on the broad array of programs typical of most colleges. The four health sciences schools in the area are just that; all of their offerings are health related. These include the previously covered University of Tennessee Health Science Center, or UTHSC, which is by far the largest of the three. The other three, Baptist Health Sciences University (BHSU), the Southern College of Optometry, and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will be covered in posts this month and in the future beginning with BHSU.

Baptist Health Sciences University is located in the Medical District of Memphis near downtown. The area is known as the Medical District for good reasons. In addition to outpatient clinics, the area is home to the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Methodist University Hospital, the Memphis VA Medical Center, the Regional One Medical Center (“the Med”), BHSU, the Southern College of Optometry, and UTHSC. The Union Avenue campus of Southwest Tennessee Community College, which is directly adjacent to UTHSC, also offers health sciences related programs. A few blocks west is St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (itself housing the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences), and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (which has some health science related tech programs).

BHSU is related to the Baptist Memorial Healthcare system, which operates three hospitals in the Memphis area. If you visited Memphis, you might have the impression that the Methodist Health System is bigger. Although the Methodist presence in Memphis is very large, the Baptist Memorial Health System is the largest healthcare system in the Midsouth. BHSU is located in an area the Baptist has had since 1912. A good deal of the original site and the Madison Avenue hospital was given to and subsequently redeveloped by UTHSC. BHSU was founded in 1912, the same year as the University of Memphis. It began with a school of nursing and has since grown to offer three associate’s twelve bachelor’s, and one doctoral degree in a number of allied health areas and nursing. The sole graduate program, offering the Doctor of Nurse Practitioner degree, graduated its first class in August 2020. Prior to 2020, the institution was known as Baptist College of Health Sciences.

​I was in the Medical District for a meeting and parked near the BHSU Campus Hub Building, one of three buildings on campus. The Campus Hub Building houses a residence hall, student services, a gym, and the campus bookstore. It was the only building I was able to photograph while I was there. The four photos below are all of the Hub. The first and second show the east façade (Camilla Street) of the building (and a bit of the south side on Union Avenue). The banner is on a fence on the Union Avenue side. The final photo is of the south façade. Both are in the relatively new official BHSU colors. I don't know when the colors were adopted, but a campus news item from 2019 referred to them as "new". The match the color scheme used by the Baptist Memorial Health System. Also new is the mascot seen on the banner. The mascot, the first in the institution's history, was adopted in 2019. They are the "Blue Healers", a play on the name of the breed of Australian Cattle dog "Blue Heeler".

Lastly, these are two photos of their version of the now ubiquitous pole flags present on many campuses. These have the stylized "BU" logo in the official colors of the university and look quite nice.