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    #FlashbackFriday 1980: Some little-known Mayo statistics

a 1980 photograph of Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota

This article first appeared in June 1980, in the publication Mayovox.

During 1979 the Mayo Medical Museum hosted 107,680 visitors, the Section of Photography produced 216,635 slides and 10 vehicles assigned to General Service for messenger and passenger service were driven a total of 168,653 miles.

Although these rather obscure statistics may seem unrelated, they have at least one thing in common: all were included in annual reports prepared by Mayo administrative sections.

These reports are used to document each section’s activities for the past year, describe any problems and potential solutions and outline its future plans.

Many of the reports included statistical data, such as the examples mentioned above. You may be interested in other samples culled from the pages of several 1979 reports. For example:

  • In addition to its slide production, the Section of Photography made 127,631 prints and enlargements and 1,029 portraits in the past year. The Audiovisual Center produced 169 television programs and 288 audio recordings.
  • General Service’s two receptionists at the Rochester Airport assisted 6,065 wheelchair patients and 72 ambulance patients during arrival or departure in 1979. Another 323 patients were helped on or off aircraft, and 89 were assisted in the airport’s first aid rooms.
  • Of the 2,601 personal articles turned into G.S.’s Lost and Found Service, 1,035 were returned to their owners.
  • General Service guides conducted a total of 803 Clinic tours for 25,742 persons last year. These included 509 public tours for 17,612 visitors, 240 special tours for 6,908 visitors, 29 orientation tours and 25 two-day orientation tours for 846 and 376 new Mayo people, respectively.
  • Mayo administrators conducted 185 tours of the Clinic and affiliated hospitals for 1,336 visiting physicians and guests. The physicians were from 96 states and foreign countries and represented 85 specialties.
  • In 1979 19,029 guests attended various functions at the Mayo Foundation House. Dinners were served to 8,250 persons, and luncheons to 2,695. Another 2,160 guests were present at receptions, 1,573 at meetings and lectures, 2,426 at teas and coffees, 938 at gatherings of women’s groups and 987 on tours.
  • Purchasing issued 39,096 purchase orders last year, an average of 152 per day. According to a study conducted for the month of June, 1979, the Mayo stockroom received an average of 28 deliveries and 766 items per day. These items were delivered around the Clinic an average of 57 times daily.
  • Clinic copy machines made a total of 17,840,428 copies in 1979: 7,900,428 on machines in the Duplicating Unit, and another 9,940,000 on copiers around the Clinic. The Duplicating Unit also made 18,865,056 impressions on its printing presses.
  • Systems and Procedures reported that 1,493 Clinic forms were reprinted without revision in 1979, 310 were revised, 62 were deleted and 181 were initiated.
  • In 1979 the Mayo Medical Library circulated 594,756 published materials, including books, journals, articles and photocopies of uncirculated items. The library also filled 29,733 requests for reference information, supplied 3,596 copies of Mayo author bibliographies and ordered 13,535 books. There were 3,291 journal titles on the library shelves last year.