HEALTH CARE
A-to-Z Guide to Greater Cincinnati:
"Best Place to Live in North America"
Medical field is vibrant, at times bizarre
BY TIM BONFIELDThe Cincinnati Enquirer What do Preparation H, the Heimlich Maneuver and serial killer Donald Harvey have in common?
They are all part of Greater Cincinnati's vibrant, evolving and sometimes bizarre health-care history.
The Tristate enjoys an abundance of health-care services, including world-class research institutions and nationally respected physicians. In general, Greater Cincinnati is a pretty good place to get sick.
Institutions
The Tristate boasts 30 acute-care hospitals and about 4,000 doctors. Unlike many large cities, all the hospitals in Greater Cincinnati are non-profit institutions.Three institutions -- Children's Hospital Medical Center, University Hospital and the Shriners Burns Institute -- have gained international status as research and treatment centers, attracting patients from Russia, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Kuwait and many other countries.
Greater Cincinnati is home to several major health-related corporations, including pharmaceuticals made by Procter & Gamble; minimally-invasive surgical tools made by Blue Ash-based Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc.; and the world's leading maker of hospital beds, Hill-Rom, a subsidiary of Batesville-based Hillenbrand Industries.
People
Greater Cincinnati has been home to several major figures in medical history: Dr. Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral polio vaccine; Dr. Henry Heimlich, who developed the anti-choking Heimlich Maneuver; Dr. George Rieveschl, the inventor of Benadryl, the world's first antihistamine; and Dr. George Sperti, the inventor who gave the world Preparation H.Nine or 10 Cincinnati physicians regularly show up in national surveys of the best doctors in America, including neurosurgeons, orthopedists, infertility experts and pediatric specialists.
On the dark side, Harvey, a former nurse aide, confessed to killing 24 patients in 1987 at what then was called Drake Hospital in one of the worst serial-killing sprees in national history. The tragedy nearly closed the 170-year-old Hartwell institution, but it was reorganized and rebuilt as the private Drake Center Inc.
Pill Hill
"Pill Hill" is the core of medicine in Cincinnati, a group of seven of the area's largest hospitals all within blocks of the University of Cincinnati -- University, Christ, Good Samaritan, Jewish, Bethesda Oak, Deaconess and Children's hospitals. The area also includes the VA Medical Center, the Shriners Burns Institute and headquarters for the Hoxworth Blood Center and the Cincinnati Health Department.Last year, changes on Pill Hill began to accelerate when two powerful hospital groups emerged. One, called the Hospital Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, includes University, Christ, Jewish and St. Luke hospitals. Another, called TriHealth, includes Good Samaritan and Bethesda.
Economic impact
Beyond providing care, Tristate hospitals have a powerful economic impact on the community by employing about 37,000 people, full-time and part-time. That's $1.2 billion paid out in wages and benefits. Counting all sales, services and contracts, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce estimates that area hospitals have an economic impact of $4.6 billion per year.
Industry changes
Like many other cities, Cincinnati is witnessing a dramatic change in health-care services as hospitals and doctors respond to cost-cutting pressure from large employers, insurers and federal and state governments.In response, hospitals are joining new alliances, cutting thousands of jobs and moving more services to outpatient, suburban centers. The changes are expected to continue for several years.