MDNews - Cleveland-Akron-Canton

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HOSPITAL SPOTLIGHT +++ +++ MetroHealth Celebrates 175th Anniversary, anniversary celebration and to pay tribute to the fi rst class of inductees in the MetroHealth Medical Hall of Honor. Established in 1837 M Alfred F. Connors, Jr., MD, chief medical offi cer and senior vice president of Medical Affairs, The MetroHealth System as a city infirmary, MetroHealth is now a respected academic health care system with a medical center in downtown Cleveland and 16 community health centers across Cuyahoga County. Each year, its physi- cians handle more than 800,000 cases — 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 i n Me t r o H e a l t h ' s E m e r g e n c y Department (which houses Cleveland's only Level I trauma center) — and deliver 3,000 babies. They also train nearly 1,500 medical and nursing students, residents and fellows each year and attract almost $40 million in annual research grants to study community health issues such as chronic disease, high-risk pregnancies, rehabilitation and heart disorders. "MetroHealth physicians have made great contributions to both health care and to the Cleveland community," says Alfred F. Connors, Jr., MD, chief medical offi cer and senior vice president of Medical Affairs, The MetroHealth System. "They reflect the mission for which the institution was founded — to provide the highest quality health care to all, regardless of the ability to pay." 14 | Cleveland-Akron-Canton MD NEWS MDNEWS.COM NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 ORE THAN 1,000 of Cleveland's leaders joined members of MetroHealth's medical community at The Champions Ball on October 15. The purpose was dual-fold: to kick-off MetroHealth's 175th Inducts 20 into Medical Hall of Honor The Hall of Honor was recently established to recognize MetroHealth physicians who best exemplify this mission. Selected from a pool of 140 nominees, 20 people were honored in the fi rst class of inductees this fall for advancing medicine and improving patient care at MetroHealth and literally around the world. Specifically, they were chosen for their excellence in research, education and patient care and/or health care management. The following 15 legacy members were inducted posthumously to the Hall of Honor: Betty Q. Banker, MD, Edward M. Chester, MD, Brown M. Dobyns, MD, PhD, John W. Harris, MD, Howard Karsner, MD, Henry Manning, Jerome R. Pomeranz, MD, Louis Rakita, MD, Charles H. Rammelkamp, Jr., MD, Frederick C. Robbins, MD, Roy W. Scott, MD, Robert M. Stecher, MD, Fiorindo Simeone, MD, Maurice Victor, MD, and Robert J. White, MD, PhD. "They were all really remarkable people, some of which I knew and interacted with," says Dr. Connors, who fi rst joined MetroHealth as an intern in 1974. "For example, in the early 1950s, when Dr. Robbins was chair of Pediatrics at MetroHealth, he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for developing the methodol- ogy that ultimately led to the oral polio vaccine, which saved thousands of lives around the world. "Dr. Rammelkamp, who was chair of Medicine here for 27 years, won the Lasker Award — the highest national award in Internal Medicine — for discovering the connection between streptococcal pharyngitis and rheumatic fever. He also cham- pioned the fi rst large scale multi-center randomized-controlled trial for strep throat and proved rheumatic fever could be prevented by treating strep throat. It's hard to exaggerate the importance of these and the other honorees' contributions." The fi ve active or living award recipients include Robert Eiben, MD; Richard B. Fratianne, MD; Irving Kushner, MD; Edward G. Mansour, MD; and Emanuel Wolinsky, MD. Dr. Eiben was chief of Infectious Diseases during the height of the polio epidemic in the 1950s and was very involved in managing children with polio. A pioneer in the field of pediatric neurology, he established the Child Neurology 175th PHOTOS © DANIEL MILNER, COURTESY OF METROHEALTH

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