Hospital named in Rios’ honor
The National Government of Panama and the Caja del Seguro Social unanimously decided to name the country’s newest cancer institute in honor of Adan Rios, MD, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.
The Institute of Cancerologia Dr. Adan Rios Abrego, was officially inaugurated on June 27 in a ceremony at the City of Health in Panama City, a collection of buildings of the first world, with a medical staff of the highest quality and cutting-edge technology, with four high-level hospitals, five institutes, and four surgery-operating specialized centers. The center includes 1,368 hospital rooms, 256 intensive care units, 67 semi-intensive care units, 24 anesthesia recovery sections, 51 surgery centers, and 313 medical clinics.
The center also houses the city’s pediatrics, surgical, and clinical hospitals, as well as cardiovascular and thoracic institutes, the National Transplant and Blood Bank, the Investigation, Innovation, and Management of Knowledge Institute, and the Medical Genetics and Genome Institute. Additionally, the City of Health houses the Adultos y Pediatric Outpatient Center, the Rehabilitation and Medicine Center, La Adultos Critical Unit, and obstetrics and robotic pharmacy units.
The complex spans over 226,000 square meters in a plot of land that is 319,000 square meters.
The Institute of Cancerologia Dr. Adan Rios Abrego houses three Elekta Versa HD 105626 linear accelerators, an Elekta Unity MR linear accelerator, and a simulator tomograph. Additionally, it will have clinics for radiation oncologists, oncologic surgeons, specialist doctors, nurses, and oncology assistants, as well as internal and general medicine physicians, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The hospitalization area will begin with 132 beds and has a capacity for more than 200.
Joining Rios in attendance at the dedication was Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, MD, president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair; Brian Dean, MBA, MPH, executive vice president for Health Affairs; Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, MACC, executive vice president and chief academic officer and K. Lance Gould Distinguished University Chair of Coronary Pathophysiology, and Distinguished Professor Cardiovascular Health; Zhiqiang An, PhD, professor and Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair in Chemistry; and Bruce Butler, PhD; UTHealth Houston Vice President of Research & Technology and professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, as well as high-level delegates from Panama.
Rios is internationally renowned for his work in HIV-associated malignancies and the treatment of tumors with biological response modifiers. He is a general oncologist with a special interest in lymphoma, leukemia, and immune-compromised related malignancies. Rios’ work has been recognized with a multitude of awards and distinctions, including the 2001 University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Distinguished Alumnus Award, the 2003 George Washington University Presidential Medical Award, and the 2008 UTHealth Houston Science Center Minority Services Award.
In January, the countries of Costa Rica and Panama celebrated 120 years of peaceful relations between the two and created the Adan Rios Abrego Merit Medal Award in honor of his more than 50 years of professional practice.