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College Medical Center history
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The hospital was founded in 1932 as Pacific Hospital of Long Beach.
In 1933, Doctor Alfred Blalock and his research assistant Vivien Thomas conducted pioneering research leading to the first cardiothoracic surgery for infants born with “blue baby syndrome.” Blalock’s work was essential to the development of open heart surgery.
1934: Harry Goldblatt, MD, described the role of the kidneys in hypertension (high blood pressure), laying the foundation for the discovery of renin and eventually the development of enzyme-inhibitor medications to treat chronic hypertension.
1935: Claude Beck, MD, performed the first operation for coronary artery disease.
The department of Radiology was established in 1936.
The first major addition to the Medical Center building was made in 1938, as the D corridor was added at the rear of the structure to house, among other things, more patient rooms and the departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology.
1939: Charles I. Thomas, MD, performed the first corneal transplant in Northeast Ohio, paving the way to restored vision for millions of people.
1941: The Lakeside Unit was reactivated and deployed to the South Pacific to staff the first American military hospital in World War II.
1944: Residency training program in Medicine started.
1944: The first class of the four-year school graduated Sept.
1944: Walter Heymann, MD, began research on kidney disease in children.
1945: First research grant of $100,000 provided by the United States Public Health Service to the medical school to study genetic diseases.
The first major development after the war was the 1945 establishment of the department of Anesthesiology.
1946: Louis Pillemer, PhD, developed preparations of tetanus antigen, leading to the first successful triple vaccine (DPT) targeting diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus, which virtually eliminated these once-fatal diseases in the United States
The pavilion was made possible through a 1946 philanthropic gift made by the coworkers and family of longtime UH trustee Howard M. Hanna, Jr.
1947: Claude Beck, MD, performed the first successful defibrillation of a human heart.
1949: Utah began accepting medical students from other Intermountain states.
1950: William Holden, MD, performed the first successful femoro-popliteal bypass (from the thigh to the lower leg), using a section of the patient’s own vein.
Finally, in 1950, the Mississippi Legislature - by a one-vote margin - enacted a law to create a four-year medical school.
1951: Cancer research building opened on campus, the first building on the health sciences campus.
1951: James Reagan, MD, pioneered cytopathology for cancer detection and introduced diagnostic terminology for Pap smear results reporting, including dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and squamous carcinoma.
1952: Use of chloramphenicol in blood disease was developed by Austin Weisberger, MD.
1953: Frank Nulsen, MD, pioneered pressure-regulated one-way valves for the treatment of hydrocephalus (water on the brain). He, along with Charles Herndon, MD, and Lester Persky, MD, also established one of the first hydrocephalus and myelodysplasia clinics for children in the country.
1953: Liver scan by radioisotopes was introduced by Hymer Friedell, MD, and Abbas Rejali, MD.
1954: Louis Pillemer, PhD, in collaboration with Irwin Lepow, PhD, and Enrique Ecker, PhD, discovered an alternative pathway for the immune response that does not involve antibodies.
On July 1, 1955, the state's new University Medical Center, or UMC as it was commonly called, opened in Jackson, initially as a four-year medical school with medical and graduate students, interns and residents.
1955: United States Public Health Services awarded the medical school $1.5 million for research.
1955: Business Bureau reported for every dollar invested in the medical school by Utah, three dollars were generated for the economy.
1955: Alan Moritz, MD, known as the Father of Forensic Pathology, worked to establish forensic pathology as a medical subspecialty and influenced the development of a professional United States medical examiner system, displacing lay coroners in that position.
1956: The University Board of Regents unanimously approved construction of a $10 million medical center.
1956: The Howard M. Hanna Pavilion opened on the University Circle campus for the care of psychiatric patients.
1957: Robert Izant, MD, performed the first successful surgery on infants to connect the stomach and intestinal tract.
Following a 1958 evaluation, accrediting officials, instead of recommending consolidation as it had done many times before, now required it.
In 1958, he established the Cleveland Eye Bank (now Eversight Ohio).
1958: Benjamin Spock, MD, launched his groundbreaking child-rearing study that explored breast-feeding, weaning, toilet training and separation anxiety while an associate physician in the Department of Psychiatry.
1959: Division of Postgraduate Medical Education established.
Stanford University Hospital opens new wing, the first major modernization project since 1959
The first endowed chair in the School of Medicine was established in 1960, the George W. Hale Professorship in Ophthalmology.
In 1961, the Learned Lab was added to Medical Center North and the next year the West Wing, later more descriptively dubbed the Round Wing, opened.
Patient care of newborns was revolutionized in 1961 at VUMC as Doctor Mildred T. Stahlman founded the division of Neonatology and began the Vanderbilt NICU, the first in the nation to make use of respiratory therapy for infants with damaged lungs.
1962: Joseph T. Wearn Laboratory for Medical Research opened on the University Circle campus.
1963: Clinical Research Center (CRC) funded by NIH was established at the Salt Lake County Hospital.
In 1963, Doctor Randolph Batson was named Dean and Director of Medical Affairs, a position which evolved into the current position of Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.
The CRC was moved to University Hospital when it opened in July 1965.
1965: Kenneth Ryan, MD, was the first in the world to describe how human ovaries produce estrogen from two types of specialized ovarian cells, laying the foundation for advances in female health.
The foundation of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 1967 rewarded years of effort by community leaders, educators, legislators, regents, physicians and others dedicated to the vision of a medical college for the state of Arizona.
1967: The Robert H. Bishop Building on the University Circle campus opened.
1968: A Four-bed Newborn Intensive Care Unit opens--the first in the Intermountain West.
In 1969, Rush Medical College merged with Presbyterian-St Luke’s Hospital to create Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke’s Medical Center.
1969: Jay Ankeney, MD, performed the first successful off-pump open-heart procedure, which later became the basis for minimally invasive heart surgery.
1969: The role of cholesterol in blood vessel disease was developed by William Insull, MD.
In 1970, the founding of Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital brought pediatric care to the forefront of the Medical Center’s patient care mission.
1970: Measurement of lung function using isotopes and computer drawings developed by Scott Inkley, MD, and James MacIntyre, MD.
Just two months after the first class graduated in 1971, University Hospital (now University Medical Center, University Campus), was completed.
1971: Charles Herndon, MD, was one of first surgeons in the United States to perform a hip replacement, conducting the procedure in a specially constructed operating room he designed to reduce infection in joint replacement surgery.
1971: A “Glass House” was developed to reduce infection in total hip replacement surgery.
1971: Angel Frame invented by UH employee Angel Martinez for care of newborns.
Rush University was established in 1972.
1972: Clyde Nash, MD, Richard Brown, PhD, and Albert Burstein, PhD, developed intraoperative spinal cord monitoring, dramatically improving the safety of complex spinal surgery.
1972: John Kennell, MD, and Marshall Klaus, MD, demonstrated the importance of maternal-infant bonding, leading to revolutionary changes in the care of mothers and newborn infants in hospitals throughout the western world.
1973: John Kattwinkel, MD, Avroy Fanaroff, MD, and Marshall Klaus, MD, with David Fleming from Biomedical Engineering, developed silicone nasal prongs for the application of continuous positive airway pressure in treating respiratory distress in pre-term and near-term neonates.
1976: John R. Haaga, MD, pioneered the use of computed tomography (CT) to guide biopsies, nerve blocks, abscess drainage and cancer treatment, significantly reducing the need for patients to have open surgery.
The building, which opened in 1977, contained School of Medicine classrooms and laboratories.
1978: Research technique to record accurate cardiac output was developed by Herman K. Hellerstein, MD, Anthony Bacevice, MD, and Peter Katona, MD.
1978: Ohio’s first bone marrow bank was established by Roger Herzig, MD.
1978: The George M. Humphrey Building with a new emergency room opened on the University Circle campus.
1979: Hansen conjoined twins undergo separation surgery
1979: Jeffrey Ponsky, MD, and Michael Gauderer, MD, performed the first percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy on infants, safely inserting a feeding tube in a minimally invasive manner in a baby’s stomach.
1980: Teen Mother and Child Program established.
1980: Irwin Merkatz, MD, conducted the first clinical trials of ritodrine, the first Food and Drug Administration-approved drug to inhibit pre-term labor, at UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital.
1980: The world’s first known survivor of ricin poisoning was treated by Leigh Thompson, MD.
1980: Kingsbury Heiple, MD, pioneered the improvements of artificial finger joints.
1981: New $43 million University of Utah Hospital opens on Sept.
1981: The first pediatric bone marrow transplant in Ohio was performed by Peter Coccia, MD.
1982: University Hospital opens pediatric intensive care unit.
1982: World's first artificial heart implant performed on Barney Clark.
1982: Randall Marcus, MD, developed revolutionary improvements in the design of an interlocking nail system to repair fractures, particularly of the long bones, which improves the healing rate and reduces the risk of infection.
1982: First hospital in United States to house superconducting whole-body Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Scanner for diagnostic imaging without x-ray radiation.
1983: University begins in-vitro fertilization program.
While part of the college of Arts and Sciences until officially joining the Medical Center in 1984, the School of Nursing throughout its history was closely affiliated with the patient care activities of the Medical Center.
1984: University Hospitals was named one of 41 original Magnet Hospitals by the American Academy of Nursing Task Force on Nursing.
1985: University Hospital installs area's first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner.
1985: 16-year-old Tony Shepard receives the first heart transplant in the state of Utah.
Completion of the L.L. Bean Building in 1985 provides expansion space for the Hatch Pavilion, a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, operating suites, and specialty departments.
the first major building expansion, the freestanding Arizona Cancer Center, dedicated in 1986;
Doctor Stanley Cohen received a Nobel Prize in 1986, as he shared the award with Doctor Rita Levi-Montalcini of Italy for their discovery of epidermal growth factor.
1987: Jerrold Ellner, MD, and Frederick Robbins, MD, established a memorandum of understanding with Makerere University in Uganda, linking Cleveland and Kampala AIDS research and care efforts.
The lobby fell into disuse until it was incorporated into the Edward G. Miner Library as its reading room during an extensive renovation in 1987.
1988: Herbert Meltzer, MD, conducted the first human trials of clozapine and established it as an effective medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients.
1988: The University Hospitals Health System formed.
1989: Joseph Calabrese, MD, in collaboration with researchers at Case Western Reserve University, launched groundbreaking studies that show the effectiveness of anticonvulsants and atypical antipsychotics in treating bipolar disorder.
1989: Anthony Maniglia, MD, Chair, and Laura Cozzi, MD, established a technique for safe outpatient tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, using bismuth to control bleeding.
1990: Anthony Maniglia, MD, was awarded the first of five patents leading to technology for developing the totally implantable cochlear implant.
1991: Bone Marrow Transplant Program begins on remodeled fifth floor of University Hospital.
1991: Travel Clinic opens at University Hospital.
In 1991, the Maine Medical Center Research Institute is established to support the bench research that has been conducted at Maine Medical Center for decades.
the establishment of an official Phoenix-based residency program in 1992;
1993: UH began merging with various community hospitals in Geauga County, Bedford, Conneaut, Richmond Heights and Geneva to create a regional health care system.
1994: Alfred and Norma Lerner Tower & the Samuel Mather Pavilion opened on the University Circle campus through a gift of $10 million.
1994: Susan Shurin, MD, performed the first umbilical cord transplant to treat childhood leukemia, using cord blood stem cells from the patient’s newborn sister.
1995: Red Butte Clinic and Park City Family Health Center open, expanding community clinics, which include Wendover, Holladay, and Wasatch Clinics.
1995: Michael Konstan, MD, Pamela Davis, MD, PhD, and Charles Hoppel, MD, demonstrated ibuprofen’s profound effect on slowing the loss of lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis, and later showed that twice-daily therapy with high-dose ibuprofen improves survival.
1996: Utah's first double-lung transplant performed at University Hospital.
1996: Utah's first telemedicine connection links University Hospital and Wendover patients.
1996: Pierluigi Gambetti, MD, developed the first classification of sporadic prion diseases, now used worldwide in diagnosing this class of dementias, caused by mutation of the prion protein gene.
1997: Leonard and Joan Horvitz Tower opened at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, named in recognition of the Horvitz family for their enduring generosity.
1997: University Hospitals partnered with Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights.
1998: University Hospitals & Clinics purchases five outpatient medical clinics, creating a 14-clinic network along the Wasatch-front and in Summit County.
1998: UH became the site of one of the world’s first intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
1999: The 225,000 square-foot Huntsman Cancer Institute opens.
Patient visits have continued to grow with hospital admissions above 31,000 in 1999, and outpatient visits approaching 600,000.
2000: Raymond Onders, MD, and colleagues developed an innovative diaphragmatic pacing system (DPS) that has since greatly improved the quality of life for paralyzed people and people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
2002: University Hospitals & Clinics provides medical care for the Winter Olympics' athletes village, and for the opening and closing ceremonies.
2002: Pamela Davis, MD, PhD, and Michael Konstan, MD, performed the first-in-human clinical trial of a non-viral gene therapy approach in patients with cystic fibrosis using DNA nanoparticles.
2002: The reporting of an ALLHAT (Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial) study by Jackson Wright, MD, showed that thiazide-type diuretics should be considered first for drug therapy in patients with hypertension.
Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke’s Medical Center was renamed Rush University Medical Center in September 2003 to reflect the importance of education and research to the Medical Center’s patient care mission.
Actor Christopher Reeve receives a DPS at UH in 2003
2004: Robert J. Maciunas, MD, was the first surgeon in North America to treat Tourette syndrome with deep brain stimulation.
2004: A transformational gift of an initial $25 million from the Goodman family, which continues to grow today through their fund at The Cleveland Foundation, is recognized in naming the Doctor Donald J. and Ruth Weber Goodman Discovery Center for Clinical Research at UH Seidman Cancer Center.
2005: An Alzheimer's program for the 21st Century: the center for Alzheimer's care, imaging, and research opens.
2005: University Hospital's Stroke Services named region's first primary stroke center.
2005: University of Utah School of Medicine celebrates "A Century of Brilliance," the 100th anniversary.
2005: University of Utah Health Care launches liver transplant program.
2005: Cliff Megerian, MD, developed a minimally invasive treatment for glomus jugulare tumors, a rare, non-cancerous skull bone tumor that involves the inner and middle ear.
2005: Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD, discovered a new stool DNA test for colon cancer that became the first commercial test for colon cancer detection.
2006: The new $54 million John A. Moran Eye Center opens.
2006: The UH Medical House Calls program is established, in collaboration with Internal Medicine and Nursing, bringing primary care services to homebound seniors who otherwise would not have access to care.
2007: Mario R. Capecchi, a University of Utah gene-targeting pioneer, wins the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
2007: University of Utah Health Care Stroke Center received Gold Performance Achievement Award by the American Heart Association for Sustained Performance Achievement (two years or more of high performance)
and the expansion of the Phoenix campus to a full four-year program, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, in 2007.
2008: Groundbreaking for the expansion of the Huntsman Cancer Hospital.
2008: University awarded a $22.5 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the NIH to speed the time it takes for research to be put into clinical use.
2008: Mark A. Griswold, PhD, developed parallel imaging technique for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which produces clearer, more accurate images in shorter time.
2008: Faruk H. Örge, MD, was the first in Ohio to use endoscopic and microsurgical techniques to drain excess fluid from the eye in infants and young children born with glaucoma.
2009: The Health and Wellness Center opens.
2009: The Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, under the direction of Andrew Sloan, MD, pioneered a minimally invasive, MRI-guided laser system to treat previously inoperable brain tumors.
2010: University of Utah Health Care achieved the No.
1 ranking in University HealthSystem Consortium’s 2010 Quality and Accountability Study.
2010: The Program of All-inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE), one of only two such programs in Ohio, is established.
2010: Pediatric urologists Jonathan Ross, MD, and Edward Cherullo, MD, performed one of the world’s first pediatric single-site nephrectomies.
2011: The U’s AirMed flight program, the state’s only air emergency service that offers obstetrics care, celebrated its first in-flight birth.
2011: University Hospital opened the country’s only Faint and Fall Clinic.
2011: The University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI) expanded to include more than 80 new inpatient beds, filling a critical need in the community for more mental health services.
In 2012, Rush opened the distinctive butterfly-shaped Tower building, which has already become a Chicago icon.
2012: Jonathan Miller, MD, performed the first temporoparietoocipital disconnection in the United States, a procedure to remove tiny, non-functioning, sections of the brain where seizures originate, providing a cure for intractable epilepsy.
2012: The Harrington Discovery Institute was established as a result of a $50 million gift from the Harrington family, the largest gift in UH history to date.
In October 2013, the hospital was purchased by Santa Fe Springs-based healthcare management company College Health Enterprises Inc. and was renamed "College Medical Center."
Construction for the vertical expansion on top of the medical center’s lower Bean Building near the Emergency Department began in February 2014.
2014: University Hospitals expanded through the integration of hospitals in Elyria, Parma and Ravenna.
Otolaryngologists Maroun Semaan, MD (left), and Cliff Megerian, MD, in collaboration with neurosurgeon Nicholas Bambakidis, MD, and Gail Murray, MD, performed the auditory brainstem implant on Maggie Gleason, 2014
Surgery 2 is opened in 2015, which includes five new state-of-the-art operating rooms that were built to better meet the demand for routine and complex procedures performed today.
2015: Karen Mole and her family foundation, the Hampson Family Foundation, gave $10.6 million to UH Elyria Medical Center to support the development and expansion of programs that address the health care needs of Lorain County residents.
2015: Jonathan Miller, MD, was the first in the world to demonstrate that DBS has the potential to improve memory after traumatic brain injury.
2016: University Hospitals is the first in Ohio and the region to offer proton therapy to treat cancer.
Planning for a $512 million expansion started in 2017.
In January 2020, the former owner of Pacific Hospital of Long Beach was sentenced to 15 months of prison for fraud, committed during his time at the hospital.
We're counting down to the 50th Anniversary of Rush University, 2022! Follow our #RU50 hashtag on Twitter for a new year each week!
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College Medical Center competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satilla Regional Medical Center | - | $1.8M | 96 | - |
| West Anaheim Medical Center | 1964 | $47.0M | 337 | 12 |
| Keck Medicine of USC | 1991 | $761.2M | 150 | 1 |
| Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital | 1929 | $39.0M | 199 | 9 |
| Norwegian American Hospital | 1894 | $305.9M | 1,210 | - |
| INTEGRIS Health | 1983 | $1.5B | 9,908 | 596 |
| Gibson Area Hospital & Health Services | 1952 | $21.4M | 390 | 73 |
| St. Luke's Health System | 1902 | $4.0B | 30,000 | 1,368 |
| Granville Health System | 1994 | $63.0M | 641 | 2 |
| Preston Memorial Hospital | 1955 | $700,000 | 7 | 3 |
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College Medical Center may also be known as or be related to College Medical Center and Pacific Hospital of Long Beach.