Recent reorganization of clinical services established the University of Mississippi Health Care that includes the University Hospitals and Health System and the faculty practice, University Physicians. Campus clinical facilities include the University Hospital, Winfred L. Wiser Hospital for Women & Infants, Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children, the Wallace Conerly Hospital for Critical Care and the University Medical Pavilion for ambulatory care. The Medical Center owns and operates the 84-bed University Hospital -- Holmes County in Lexington, MS and leases and operates the 60-bed University Hospital-Nursing Home in Durant, MS. One mile west of campus, the Jackson Medical Mall houses the hospital's specialty care clinics, the primary care and dental clinics and the Jackson Heart Study offices.

Jackson Medical Mall

Rowland’s current two level 55,600 sq. ft. facility seats 393 people and includes a computer laboratory, faculty and student carrels and a 4,500 sq. ft. history and archives area. The library’s 11.5 professional librarians, 11 support staff, two IT staff members and eight part time technicians strive to fulfill the library’s mission to advance "improved health care by providing institutional leadership, instruction and expertise in knowledge management and by establishing a creative learning environment to strengthen the health professional education, research, patient care and service programs of the University of Mississippi Medical Center."

Print collections include 75,000 monographic and 170,000 journal volumes, 1,860 journal subscriptions (9,900 total serial titles), special collections such as leisure reading, humanities and consumer health as well as 2,000 microform and 1,000 audiovisual titles. Many of the library’s resources are now delivered through the Rowland web page  which receives 153,000 visits (8.2 million hits) annually. Users can access 110 literature databases, 3,600 e-journals, 100 reference sources, 430 full text e-books, 80 subject guide Topic Tracks, as well as the special collection of 200 locally produced full-text patient education materials. Services include reference assistance (including virtual reference), mediated-searching, photocopying, library instruction, orientation and interlibrary loan.

During March – April, 2008, the library hosted the traveling exhibit, Changing the Face of Medicine at the Jackson Medical Mall featuring the grand opening, six public programs and the new library archive, "Mississippi Women in the Health Professions 1888-1977." Other noteworthy history collections include The Julius M. Cruse Collection in the History of Immunology, one of the most comprehensive collections in immunology in the country comprising over 700 titles; the Jose Bebin History of Neurology Collection; The Louise Scott Sams Hardy Collection donated by Dr. James Hardy, the world’s first heart transplant surgeon; the Charles C. Bass Archive, the "Father of Dental Hygiene;" and the Sherlock Holmes/Arthur Conan Doyle Memorial Collection donated in honor of Thomas "Peter" Blake, M.D, a renowned cardiologist in the state.

Guyton History Room

Since 1989, Friends of the Library sponsor the Dean Billy S. Guyton Lecture on the History of Medicine held annually during National Library Week. The lecture is named for Dr. Billy S. Guyton who was Dean of the two year School of Medicine at the University in Oxford from 1936-1943.

The 2006 Guyton Lecture:
"A Report on Civil War Medicine from a Civil War Surgeon" delivered by Dr. Joseph A. Gerache

The Friends of the National Library of Medicine selected Ada Seltzer, library director, as the recipient of the 2007 Michael E. DeBakey Library Services Outreach Award for Outstanding Service to Rural or Underserved Communities in recognition of her dedication to ensure that all health professionals and consumers in Mississippi have access to quality health information.

Recent special activities include the redesign of a portion of the first floor establishing an Information Atrium, a variation on the information commons approach to encourage collaborative learning, while offering computer access, wireless internet, and ready access to trained information professionals. Two flat-screened television monitors provide continuous library information and closed-captioned network news.

First Floor Atrium

The library’s outreach services were initiated in 1989 and evolved into a statewide information network begun in 1994 with a $994,000 NLM systems grant. Named the Mississippi Health Sciences Information Network (MisHIN), this program serves as the state’s knowledge center for nearly 100 health care practitioners and health-related organizations by providing access to and delivery of health sciences information via a dedicated web site. Members can search and retrieve or request current, scholarly biomedical information that links research data and education with clinical practice for quality health care delivery, patient education and health promotion programs. This virtual library offers services and sources equivalent to those provided by most academic health center libraries.

A grant from the NN/LM Southeastern/Atlantic Region in 2001, established a Consumer Health Education Center (CHEC) located at the Jackson Medical Mall and a second facility at the University Hospital – Holmes County, Lexington, MS. A cooperative effort between the library and the University Hospitals and Health System, CHEC offers consumers ready and easy access to a quality, comprehensive collection of health information with pamphlets, reference books, videos and computer access. All materials and services are provided free of charge. The center is managed by the library and staffed by a part time outreach librarian, other library staff, and trained hospital volunteers. As a part of its outreach services, the Smart Start puppet series has been presented throughout the Jackson metro area. The series is designed to teach school-aged children about health practices using puppets

The library recently accepted responsibility for the self-serve patient education area located in the faculty practice building. The library maintains a special Web page (Patient Education Center) that combines free and purchased consumer health materials in several languages for campus providers. This Web portal allows providers to distribute free printouts as well as access to videos about numerous health topics.

Supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1992, the prestigious Base Pair mentorship program pairs faculty from the Medical Center with high school students and educators from the Jackson Public School System to enhance science education and encourage students to choose a biomedical career. A part time librarian provides instruction and orientation, Web hosting and other biomedical information services to students and teachers enrolled in this program.

The library has been successful in establishing innovative instructional modules for some of the medical center’s programs. In 2000 the library initiated a major program which integrates evidence-based sources into the medical school curriculum. Instruction focuses on concepts and skills introduced in the first year, reinforced for proficiency during the second and third years, with mastery and integration in the fourth year. Outcomes are measured during the final year where students demonstrate their ability to locate clinical evidence to a selected question derived from clinical cases prepared by the medical school faculty.

Similar instruction delivered in separate numbered courses is offered to first and third year dental students to reinforce skills learned in their curriculum. In 2007, reference librarians developed a web-based interactive core competency unit in patient education resources for hospital employees involved in direct patient care. The unit teaches skills to access and retrieve patient education materials and information useful at the point of care.