Lloyd Minor, M.D.

In times of economic hardship, alarm quickly rises over the state of our nation’s health care system, which can be one of the first entities to suffer. When that happens, patients often pay the price. So when I tell you that our Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery remains on solid ground, it is with no lack of relief or pride.

During the past five years—before words like recession and downturn became part of our daily vocabulary—our department has worked to grow to meet our increasing clinical demands. We’ve been steadily hiring new professionals, increasing our full-time faculty from 34 members to 48. We’ve actively sought and received funding for multiple research endeavors. And we’ve branched out into the community around us by improving access and making our services available to patients whether they’re coming from the Baltimore suburbs or Dubai. The result?

Today, we are stronger than ever. We’ve been able to support ever-increasing clinical volumes and to maintain our primary missions of patient care, cutting-edge research and teaching. In fact, we’ve seen a 35 percent increase in our patient volumes and have multiple clinical trials available to patients seeking the most advanced option in care. Research support for our faculty has increased by 50 percent. Whether their specialty is robotics, skull-base surgery, cancer screening or cochlear implants, our physicians are constantly working to extend the forefront of their fields by advancing knowledge and translating their findings to treatments for the patients who rely on us.

Of course, despite any success, we must remain grounded. In such a strained economy, opportunities to grow and improve are increasingly precious. Even so, we are confident that our efforts during the past few years will allow us to remain strong and persevere through the economic difficulties that pose challenges to health care as a whole. More importantly, though, we are proud that our patients will be able to reap the benefits.

Lloyd Minor, M.D.
Andelot Professor and Director
Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery