Muhlenberg

Tomorrow the serious stuff about the Council meeting. Yesterday there were comments posted by bloggers about the agenda. Today is a memory day.

Sunday the Plainfiedl Historical Society opened an exhibit in the Drake House about the history of Muhlenberg Hospital. Credit goes to Nancy Piwowar for the work to create such an exhibit including pictures of the original hospital. Of interest to me was a 1939 picture of the Medical Staff standing on the steps of the then Administration, Admission building. My father who was a Senior Attending in Medicine is clearly recognizable.

In those days and after the war ended almost all doctors were general practitioners first and specialist secondarily. Surgeons saw patients for all sorts of medical problems The different services had Senior Attendings usually four and Assistant Attendings and as the staff grew Associate Attendings , plus Clinical Assistants whose function was to staff the clinics. All gave pro bono service time usually up to three months a year to treat the "ward" patients.

The rank of Senior Attending in the Medical, Surgical,Pediatrics, and Obstetric Services was a desired privilege. Not only did they form the governing medical body but it was mandatory that the Seniors get the consultations. Thus the position also had a monetary reward. In 1946 no Surgeon had had specific specialty training as residents. Board Certification was just beginning.

The only Board Certified Surgeon on the Staff was Mert Griswold and the powers that be had continued to restrict his privileges so that he gravitated to Plastic Surgery which was in its infancy but boosted by the Spanish War and WWII. It was not until two Board Certified Surgeons, Earl O'Neil and Bob Null , almost simultaneously joined the staff that the pendulum of change began. They were getting referrals from community practitioners who valued their skills compared to that of most of the Seniors. They at first, having been denied major surgical privileges were taking their patients to Cornell Medical Center (O'Neil) or in Nulls case Beth Israel where they had unrestricted privileges. In was only a year or two where popular civic pressure forced the Hospital to give them full privileges and with that they began to receive consultation request in the hospital.

Shortly there after Board Certified physicians in Medicine, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics followed by Orthopedics and Urology and other sub specialties joined the staff. The barrier preventing younger doctors from being Consultants was destroyed. Merit not rank determined who received consultation requests or referrals.

Muhlenberg was one of the first hospitals in the area to make it desirable to have Board Certification as a requirement for staff appointments and by the time I became Staff President in the ate 7os it was the only area hospital to make it mandatory.

In the 70's and 80's Muhlenberg had a Medical Staff that was on the par in all specialities with any hospital in the country with the exception of heart surgery. There were world recognized leaders in Radiology, Pathology, Colon-Rectal Surgery among others on the staff.