The Academic Health Center has been a major source for medical care in Cincinnati, training health professionals and providing leading-edge medical research and patient care. It has also been the source of medical care to many people who otherwise would not have received it. The high quality of medicine that is readily available in Greater Cincinnati was--and still is--very much tied to the high quality of people and programs at the Academic Health Center.
As the 21st century unfolds, we have developed a strategic vision that encompasses three interlocking goals to guide us:
As an academic health center, we have unique responsibilities and opportunities to influence the quality and availability of medicine to our geographic region and beyond. Along with other major university-based health centers, we are charting the future of health research, education, and patient care.
The concept of the academic health center--one organization that includes a medical school, one or more teaching hospitals, and possibly other health professional colleges--originated with Dr. Daniel Drake, who founded the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1819. Drake envisioned more than just a medical school. He conceived almost simultaneously an integrated teaching hospital and medical school system. So, from the start, the College of Medicine and University Hospital have been closely united. Today, the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center includes the College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, College of Allied Health Sciences, and the Hoxworth Blood Center.
In 1819, Daniel Drake received a charter from the Ohio legislature to found the Cincinnati College and the Medical College of Ohio (our College of Medicine's predecessor). Drake is also credited with establishing the first in the succession of hospitals that eventually evolved into today's University Hospital.
Both the hospital and the College of Medicine have been located on the Academic Health Center campus for many years. The College of Medicine has occupied the Medical Sciences Building since 1974. The current hospital building was opened in 1968, and the major addition of the Critical Care Pavilion was completed in 1993.
In July 1977, the University of Cincinnati's status changed from a municipal university to a State of Ohio university. The name General Hospital was phased out in 1982 and replaced by University of Cincinnati Hospital. In 1994, University Hospital joined with The Christ Hospital to form the Health Alliance. To date, the Health Alliance consists of six hospital facilities from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
The College of Nursing began in 1889 as the Cincinnati Training School for Nurses. It later became a professional school of the College of Medicine and was one of the first two schools in the country to offer the bachelor of science degree in nursing. The school was established as a college in the university in 1938, and its name was changed to the College of Nursing and Health four years later. In 1968, William Cooper Procter Hall became the home of the college.
The College of Pharmacy was founded in 1850 and chartered by the State of Ohio as the first educational institution of its kind west of the Alleghenies. The college became affiliated with the university in 1887. It was not until 1954 that the college became an integral part of the University of Cincinnati as its 13th college. The College of Pharmacy was housed in the Biology Building on the main campus for more than 20 years. In 1976, it became part of the Academic Health Center campus and moved into its present location in Wherry Hall on Eden Avenue.
The College of Allied Health Sciences is the newest college at the Academic Health Center. Established in 1998, the college consists of: Communication Sciences and Disorders, Genetic Counseling, Medical Technology, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Nutrition and Dietetic Education, Physical Therapy, and Physical Therapy Assisting programs. In 1999, it moved into renovated space in the newly named Hastings L. and William A. French Building on the Academic Health Center campus with 38,000 square feet of space for offices, classrooms, auditoriums, and labs.
Hoxworth Blood Center was founded in 1938 in one room of the basement of General Hospital. It was established as a not-for-profit blood bank by Dr. Paul I. Hoxworth. The American Red Cross turned the blood bank over to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1944 as World War II began to draw to a close. The Blood Center was named for its founder in 1973. Today, Hoxworth is a regional resource providing safe blood and related services to our community. The new Hoxworth Center opened in 1993, providing state-of-the-art facilities for all of the blood center's activities.
Currently, the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center is experiencing a stylish makeover. In 1995, the Cardiovascular Building opened its doors, housing laboratories, conference rooms, and faculty offices where scientists and physicians will search for causes and cures for heart disease. The Vontz Center for Molecular Studies opened its doors in September, 1999. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, the Vontz Center serves as the gateway to the Academic Health Center and contains a lecture room, conference rooms, public areas, as well as three floors of flexible lab space. The modular laboratories consist of over 70,000 of the total 150,000 gross square footage of the building. The labs were designed by Earl Walls to facilitate collaboration among the many disciplines involved in cancer and neuroscience research and education. The researchers focus on discovering and understanding the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms that contribute to disease development and progression. Such knowledge will lead to improved methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The Academic Health Center also opened the Kingsgate Conference and Guest Lodging Center, a 20,000 square feet, state-of-the-art facility with meeting and guest rooms for major conferences.
This physical growth of the Academic Health Center is key to the implementation of its Millennium Research Plan. The primary goal of the plan is to make Greater Cincinnati a major center for biomedical research, by doubling the medical research activity at UC within six years. Investments in people and infrastructure will be important in reaching this benchmark by the year 2006. This will include enhancing extramural funding opportunities, recruiting new talented faculty, developing and expanding the research infrastructure and overall university investing in the research enterprise. UC Academic Health Center is key to putting Greater Cincinnati on the front wave of the fast growing biomedical industry and expanding the regional economy.