Springfield Clinic History

 Dr. Robert T. Patey came in 1952.  He was graduated from Harvard Medical School and served his residency at Ancker Hospital in St. Paul, the University of Minnesota Hospital, and the University of Louisville Hospital.  Soon after joining the Clinic, he took on arthritis as a subspecialty. Rheumatology as a specialty by that name was unheard of generally in private practice at that time.  Working closely with Dr. H. Glenn Woody in Orthopedics, Dr. Patey became a virtual part time medical orthopedist.  He kept a close eye on the Physical Therapy Department.  

A charge of unethical conduct was introduced in the Sangamon County Medical Society in December 1952.  The President of the Society, in accepting the charge, stated that the only way to get a ruling from the Judicial Council would be to find the Clinic guilty of unethical conduct, censure the Clinic, and let an appeal by the Clinic go on up to the Illinois State Society and the American Medical Association.  The action of the Sangamon County Society was upheld by the State Society without an option.  

In 1952, the Clinic began publication of the Quarterly Bulletin of the Springfield Clinic.  Each issue carried an average of six articles on pertinent medical and surgical subjects, written for the bulletin by the Clinic staff.  The mailing list included all practicing physicians in central and southern Illinois.  

The laboratory emerged from its one room operation when the Clinic moved to the new building on 7th Street in 1952.  It was doubled in size and equipment.  The chief technician at that time supervised both the laboratory and X-Ray.  Soon, however, the volume of procedures required the establishment of separate departments. 

A pharmacy was opened in the new Clinic building in 1952.   This service was owned and operated by the Clinic's landlord, a facilities corporation which was owned initially by the remaining founding partners, Dr Ennis, Eveloff and Graham. 

 Dr. Victor H Beinke joined the department in 1954.  He graduated from University of Cincinnati College of medicine and obtained his residency training at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, IL and the University of Illinois Division of Mateno State Hospital at Manteno, IL.  He was certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  Dr. Beinke left the Clinic for solo practice in 1962.  He died in 1988. 

The Clinic, which had always worked closely with other Springfield physicians, relied exclusively on urologists in solo practice until Dr. William S White joined the Clinic in 1954. Dr. White was a native of Canada and had his schooling and training in Toronto.  He was the husband of the Clinic's pediatrician, Dr. Gwendolyn White.  Dr. White stayed with the Clinic until 1957 when he went into solo practice.  He died in 1982. 

John W Montgomery began as Assistant Administrator in 1954 and succeeded Francis Wenzel as Administrator in 1963.  Mr Montgomery retired at the end of 1987 and stayed on as Consultant through the transition in 1988.  During his twenty-five years as Administrator, the Clinic grew from twenty to fifty physicians. 

Satellites were resumed, and the number of employees increased by over one hundred people.  The main campus of the Clinic now occupies an entire city block.  Two remaining buildings on the block were purchased, and one lot is leased for parking.  The property is now owned by the entity, Clay Scarritt, which is a partnership of physicians and some employees of the Clinic.  A Family Practice facility was erected at 2200 West Wabash Avenue.  Office space was leased in Sherman for two Family Practice physicians.  Office space for one physician was temporarily leased at Doctors Hospital.  A rehabilitation Center was in operation at 1717 South Sixth Street.  Patient volume has grown by ten times since 1983. 

 Dr. Gwendolyn White came to the department in 1955.  She is a graduate of the University of Toronto College of Medicine.  Dr. White was the first practicing woman Pediatrician in Springfield to be Board Certified in Pediatrics (1961) and the first to become a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (1962) Dr. White was especially interested in adolescent and teenage Pediatrics.  She served as Pediatric Consultant to the University of Illinois Division of Services for Crippled Children at the Springfield General Clinic and at the Pneumatics Fever Clinic at Effingham.  For eight years she was in charge of the City Health Department's Well Baby Clinic in Palmer school, serving the John Hay Home Housing area.  She was a member of the attending Pediatric Staff of St. John's Hospital High Risk Nursing Center. 

The Clinic's first experience with Otolaryngology was in 1955 in combination with Ophthalmology.  Dr. Stephen West, who had been in practice of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat in Taylorville moved to Springfield to open the EENT Department of the Clinic.  Ophthalmology was introduced to the Clinic in December 1955 by Dr Steven L West who had been practicing in Taylorville and wanted to move to a larger city.  Dr West was of the "old school" trained in ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology and endoscopy - EENT.  Judged by the standards of 1989, EENT in 1955 was superficial, with little technology for diagnosis or intraocular surgery. 

In 1955, in response to suggestions of some regular Clinic patients about a plan under which a budget stablizing method of payment could be offered for services they were accustomed to receiving, a Family Periodic Payment Plan was developed.  The Plan was designed to overcome the imbalance between a modest cost for medical care over considerable periods and exceptionally heavy cost at other times.   The Periodic Payment Plan for the family was a method for regular, fixed payment at the end of each month for services rendered or made available during the month.  It included a reduced fee schedule for dependents.  Members of a family could obtain care at the Clinic at costs substantially lower than the regular fee schedule.  The Plan was made available to approved families that had been patients of the Clinic before July 1, 1955.  It was not offered generally. 

In 1955, the Clinic negotiated a medical services contract with the United Mine Workers of America.  All of the mine workers and their families were entitled to the medical and surgical services the Clinic provided.  A flat sum for a prospective twelve-month period was calculated from the charges the Clinic had made for the miners and their families during the preceding twelve months.  Up to the time of the agreement, regular Clinic charges had been billed on individual patients to the United Mine Workers Welfare Fund in St. Louis; they had been paid promptly.  A negotiated percent of rise in utilization of services and rise in fees reasonable for the area determined the upcoming twelve months falt payment.  The contract was renegotiated every six months, always amicably, for a period of six years.  

In 1955 only two sections of nurses existed, the north side of the main building under Ann Hickey, RN, and the south side under Lorraine Wood, RN.  Later nurses and aides were organized along departmental lines with a supervisor for each department.   It became apparent in early 1955 that efficient management of the day-to-day operation of the various Clinic functions could not be the sole responsibility of one person.  Accordingly, a plan for departmentalization of all functions was presented to and approved by the Finance Committee in April 1955.

 Neck Surgery was performed by the General Surgeons until Dr. Rubenstein joined the Clinic in 1956 in Otolaryngology and further expanded next surgery.  He acquired some of the thyroidectomy cases. Dr. Stanley A Burris, a graduate of Washington University School of Medicine, fresh from residencies in St. Louis City Hospital and Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, entered the Surgical Department in 1956.  He brought Vascular Surgery with him and opened this rapidly expanding field in the Springfield area.  Dr. Burris soon established a reputation in the field and made vascular operations standard fare in this region.  His impressive volume of vascular surgery did not interfere with his considerable skills in general abdominal, neck and breast surgery.  Dr. West moved out to solo practice in Springfield at about the same time Dr. Alan S. Rubenstein was being interviewed for Otorhinolaryngology and Neck Surgery. 

Dr. Rubenstein joined the Clinic on September 17, 1956.  He had been in practice in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, before transferring to the Springfield Clinic.  His training at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York City, in radical head and neck surgery and endoscopy had been extensive.  He advanced the Department to encompass Otorhinoloaryngology, Maxillofacial Surgery, Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Audiology and Otolaryngologic Allergy.  From the start, Dr. Rubenstein made a practice of taking two or three surgical courses each year.  He prefers courses rather than meetings in order to be able to concentrate on a particular subject, especially in a hands-on situation.  Throughout the years, Dr. Rubenstein spent various periods of time in New York with Dr. John Conley, in head and neck surgery. 

Another significant course was with Dr. Holinger in Chicago in Bronchoesophagology.  In particular, the retrieval of foreign bodies caught in air and food passages was studied.  Dr. Rubenstein is one of the original faculty members of SIU School of Medicine and holds the rank of Clinical Assiciate Professor in the Department of Surgery , Division of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, at the medical school.  Dr. Rubenstein worked with Dr Barnes and Dr James Graham to establish the Chest section.  This section introduced Inhalation Therapy at St John's Hospital, beginning with a kind of crash cart for bedside bronchoscopy to relieve tracheal brochial mucus and atelectasis.  Inhalation Therapy is now a function of the Respiratory Therapy Department. 

The Chest Section's thoracic surgery activity was the forerunner of cardiac surgery in central Illinois.  Dr. West moved out of the Clinic to solo practice in September 1956.  In 1956 Dr Rubenstein supplemented the service from the Otolaryngology aspect.  Dr Rubenstein, in Otohinolaryngology, has paid a great deal of attention to allergy as it affects his field. 

Two years later, a second dentist was added, Dr Carter Hagberg.  From that time on, with the exception of three years, there were two dentists in the Department: Carl Haiser, DDS, from 1957 to 1959; C. Kirk Thibene, DDS, 1961 to 1982;Richard L Tega, DDS, from 1968 to 1979. Until 1956 the Clinic accounting system consisted of hand posted books with the only mechanized aspect of the operation being the posting of accounts receivedable.  With the volume of transactions on the rise, hand posted books became unacceptably cumbersome due to the difficulties in balancing, numerous chances for errors and time consumed.  Two Burroughs machines were installed and a new system which completely mechanized the Clinic accounting system was inaugurated.  Computations in the ledgers were made automatically, and the number of errors was cut to an insignificant figure.  It was possible to have a financial statement prepared with in 36 hours after the close of the previous month's business.  The system was created and designed especially for the Springfield Clinic.  The pharmacy was sold in 1956, along with the Clinic buildings, to a corporation in which all physician partners and long term employees could invest as stockholders.

 Dr. H Neal Barnes was a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School. He had an internship at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, followed by a residency in Internal Medicine at Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in Chicago.  Finally he served a second residency in Pulmonary Medicine at Cook County Hospital.  He chose to practice this subspecialty in conjunction with Internal Medicine when he joined the Clinic. 

In 1957 Dr. Barnes teamed up with Dr. James Graham for Thoracic Surgery and Doctor Rebenstein for Endoscopy to form a Thoracic Medicine and Surgery Section. Dr. Edward A Scollin joined the Surgical Department in 1957.  He was a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and had his hospital training at Maumee Valley Hospital in Toledo and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.  Dr. Scollin left the Clinic in 1958 for solo practice in surgery.

Dr. Jose L Gonzalez joined with Dr. Eveloff and Dr. White in 1957.  He was Pediatrician in charge of the Pediatrics Department at the United States Naval Base in Portsmouth, NH, before coming to the clinic.  Dr Neal Barnes was responsible for the Clinic's first efforts in Pulmonary Medicine.  He joined with Dr. James Graham and Dr Alan Rubenstein in 1957 to form a Thoracic Medicine and Surgery Section. A further refinement was made when the Employee Council was incorporated into the Business and Personnel Committee with a partner doctor as chairman.  This change took place in 1957, and the Clinic operates today in this fashion.

 Dr. William J Conroy finished at Loyola Medical School in Chicago and then went on to hospital training at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen park and Brooke Army Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  He was in private practice in Chicago from 1956-1959 when he came to Springfield Clinic.  Dr. Conroy brought his subspecialty of diabetes with him, a field that developed over the years into a virtually full time occupation.  With a strong feeling for professional relations, Doctor Conroy was the lead person of the Clinic to various group practice associations.  For 16 years, 1970-1986, he was the Clinic's delegate to the American Group Practice Association.  Until he retired in 1986, he was Clinical Associate Professor at SIU School of Medicine.  

Dr. Rubenstein went to Memphis twice to work with Doctors Shea and Austin.  Dr Shea had been developing the operation of total stapedectomy and Dr Austin was developing tympanopasty (repair of middle ears and ear drums), particularly with the use of vein graphs.  On return from Memphis, Dr. Rubenstein and Dr William Weiss, a fellow Otolaryngologist in solo practice arranged for the first operation microscope in the city; this was later donated to St. John's Hospital.  At that time, operation microscopes sold for $2400; today they cost $20,000 or more. 

Endocrinology was initiated as a subspecialty in the Medical Department by Dr Conroy when he joined the Clinic in 1959.  The base of this endeavor was diabetes, but as time passed more and more endocrine disorders, other than diabetes came his way.  He trained the nurses and aides attached to his section in handling the special aspects of diabetic management.  In the next year, the Clinic buildings and the equipment that were owned by Dr Ennis, Eveloff and Graham as the South Springfield Company were sold to a new corporation, in which all partners and eventually the employees could invest. 

Speech therapy was introduced into clinical practice by Dr. Rubenstein and Virginia Lee. Mrs. Lee also did audiology.  A sound room was constructed in 1960.  Audiology has been a regular service in the Department since that time, and the facilities for diagnosing and treating a wide number of hearing problems have continually been improved and advanced. 

The Eye department was vacant for four years until Dr Michael Walsh took over in 1960.  Dr Walsh was a native of Ireland and had attended the Medical College of the University of Galway.  His hospital training was in the United States at St Mary's Group of Hospitals and St John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis.  The Department progressed nicely for four years under Dr Walsh.  The laboratory received a State license as an independent laboratory in the late 1960s.  In order to assure quality, the Clinic sought a Director certified by the American Board of Pathology.  Through negotiations between Dr John Allen and Dr Grant Johnson, Chairman of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Memorial Hospital, Dr John Dietrich was assigned to serve as Director of the Clinic laboratory. 

In 1960 the Clinic initiated the Nurse Physician Assistant concept in the city.  A nurse who worked with the physician or surgeon in the Clinic and/or in the operating suites would make daily hospital rounds with the physician, or in his stead.  She could make notes in the charts, leave orders on the physician's instructions, see new admissions and discharge patients.  The system established a comforting continuity for the patient and a sense of readier access indirectly to the patient.  The Nurse Assistant or Nurse Associate concept grew rapidly from a solely assistant relationship to the current concept of the nurse practitioner in collaborative practice with the physician, both in the hospitals and in the Clinic. 

 Dr. Barnes moved to Florida in 1961 for solo practice of Internal Medcine.  Dr. Edward J Budil, a Harvard Medical School graduate who completed a Surgical Residency at Barnes Hospital, came to the Clinic in 1961.  He quickly added to the Clinic's already considerable prestige in vascular surgery with aortoiliac endarterectomies, Fogarty catheter extractions of emboli, and peritoneovenous shunts.  With Dr. Jack Baldwin, he helped organized the first Burn Unit at Memorial Medical Center.  He helped run the unit as Co-Director for several years.  

Dr. Robert R Fahringer joined with Dr Ennis and Beinke in 1961, but he too felt the call of solo practice and left in 1963 to set up his own office from which he retired in 1987. 

Dr. Ennis and Dr. Beinke were selected by G.D. Serle company to pursue a clinical study of the drug Flagyl (matronidazole) prior to the submission of the company's final report to the Federal Food and Drug Adminstration.  Both Doctors reported that problem cases fell into two disparate groups, 1- Pregnant women and 2-prostitutes.  The thalidomide incident at the time made the Food and Drug Administration shaky about the release of new drugs, particularly drugs used during pregnancy.  The Welfare Fund changed direction in 1961.  The contract antedated by 30 years the next health maintenance organizations in Springfield: Unity, ProCare, and total Health Care.  Since there inception, the HMO's have struggled and have scaled back.

 The joint effort of Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Graham antedated sophisticated cardiac surgery in Springfield and initiated the interest that led to the search for a cardiologist and then a cardiac surgeon in 1962. 

Dr Patey obtained a license in 1962 for testing and treating hyperthyroidism with radioactive iodine.  He did radioactive vitamin B 12 studies for pernicion anemia and radioactive fat studies for fat absorption.  He was a Clinical Associate in the Department of Medicine at SIU School of Medicine.  Dr. Patey retired from practice in 1988. 

Dr. Haydee Kimmich associated with the Orthopedic Department in 1962.  She was the first women orthopedic surgeon to practice in Springfield and the first surgeon in the area to emphasize Hand Surgery as a major subspecialty.  She and her husband, Dr Homer Kimmich, in Head and Neck Surgery, withdrew from the Clinic to set up their own office in 1964.  Dr. Homer Kimmich was with the Department from 1962 to 1964.  He withdrew in 1964 and with Dr Haydee Kimmich opened a private medical office in the city. 

Dr Montgomery and Dr Graham, who had been using internal mammary artery ligation and pericardial poudrage to enhance myocardial vascularization, recognized that with the great strides being made in cardiac physiology and cardiac surgery there simple attempts were ineffective and far from the van-guard.  The Clinic would have to do better than that.  Although it was the general opinion in Springfield that the city was too small and too far from teaching centers to even consider cardiac surgery, the two doctors thought otherwise.  They interviewed cardiac surgeons coming out of training in Cleveland, Houston and the Mayo Clinic.  Late 1962, Recruitment brought Dr Paul E Smalley, fresh out of the University of Cincinnati, the Lahey Clinic, and New England Deaconess Hospital.  Doctor Smalley saw the potential.  Organizing the hospitals for cardiac catheterization, acquiring the necessary equipment, and training personnel kept Dr Smalley busy for the better part of a year. 

Dr. Charles N Wasilewski open the Department of Dermatology in the Clinic in 1962.  His stay, however, was short because he and his wife, having come from the eastern part of the United States, preferred the mountains to the midwestern plains.  Dr and Mrs. Wasilewski left for the East in 1963. 

Dr. Dietrich served in this capacity from 1972 until the duties were taken over by Dr Travis Hindman of Memorial Medical Center in 1986.  Dr. Hindman is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine.  He served his residency in the Southern Illinois University affiliated hospitals.  His special interests are cytopathology, gynecologic pathology and autopsy pathology.  Dr. Joan Barenfanger is associated with Dr. Hindman.  She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and served her residency in the SIU affiliated hospitals.  Her special interests are virology, microbiology, infectious disease and autopsy pathology. 

Physical Therapy at Springfield Clinic began January 2, 1962, in a storeroom area of about 9 x 24 feet, curtained off into several sections.  Charles Argenta was the therapist.  For the most part, the treatments were confined to diathermy, whirlpool, massage, manipulation, and exercisers.  He left the clinic in 1969.  He was followed by Marlene Hudson, a registered Physical Therapist who received her training at Eastern Illinois University and Washington University.  Prior to joining the Clinic, she had been in Physical Therapy at St John's Hospital.

 BIMAL, pericardial poudrage, and patent ductus ligation were as close to cardiac surgery as the Clinic got until Dr. Paul Smalley and Dr. Robert Harp joined the Clinic in cardiology and cardiac surgery in 1963. There was enough thoracic surgery to give Dr. Harp, fresh from Mayo Clinic training, a running start when he joined the Surgical Department for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery in 1963. 

Dr. Nicholas A Kabalin succeeded Dr. White but remained for less than a year, again leaving a lapse in the Department until Dr. Victor F Trautmann reopened it in 1963.  During his 15 years with the Clinic, Dr. Trautmann developed a large following.  In addition to being a highly competent urologist in both open and closed surgery, he had an unusually warm and considerate manner that cemented his patients' loyalty to him.  Dr. Trautmann served as one of the visionary forces behind the establishment of the Foundation for Medical Care of Central Illinois, which still serves as the largest independent practice associations in downstate Illinois.  He left the Clinic for solo practice in 1978. 

Doctor Robert A Harp arrived after finishing his Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.  Dr Harp was encouraged and had financial help of the Sisters of St. John's Hospital and a generous friend of the hospital, spend the next six months acquiring equipment, outfitting an operating suite, training personnel, and establishing a pig laboratory.  He trained Fenner Sutton, a laboratory technician at the Clinic, to run the by-pass pump.  Dr. Graham turned his thoracic surgery over to Dr Harp.  The vascular surgeons, Dr Burris and Budil were ready to assist. 

The Payment Plan was discontinued in 1963 partly because it was not pushed or marketed.

  Rolland Justison began as x-ray technician in 1963; he is still with the Clinic twenty-six years later.  He trained an aide who worked in the darkroom. 

 Dr. White left the Clinic in 1965 to open her solo practice and retired in 1986.  Dr. Baisier joined the Clinic.  He was a graduate from the University of Louvain, Belgium.  He completed his residency in Orthopedics at the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Boston. 

Dr. Braisier introduced laminar airflow operating suites in the Springfield hospitals prior to opening the field of joint replacement.  He performed the first hip and knee replacements in the area.  He was one of the early advocates and users of arthroscopy.  He also has worked extensively in spinal surgery.  In 1965, the Illinois Board of Higher Education was faced with a large proportion of graduates of the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago going into the medical and surgical specialities rather than general practice; many left Illinois to practice in other states.  As a solution, the Board recommended to the Legislature the establishment of two medical schools downstate, one in Springfield affiliated with Southern Illinois University and the other in Peoria affiliated with the University of Illinois College of Medicine. 

Rolland recalls the installation of a film processor in 1965.  Up to that time, the hand processed films were passed through the washer and dryer.  To speed up patient service, the wet films would be taken out to the doctor so he could show them to the patient.  Then the films, usually streaked after going to the doctor, were returned to the dryer.  This added up to thirty to forty-five minutes by the time the films were dry.  The processor reduced the time to seven minutes.  A new Kodak processor reduced the time to three-and a-half minutes, as compared with ninety seconds today.  There are now two processing units.  

 Dr Smith retired from the Clinic in 1966. 

Dr. John L Allen, a graduate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, brought the fruits of the New York Presbyterian Medical Center residency program to the Surgical Department in 1966. 

The Clinic opened Hematology and Oncology in 1966 as a separate section in the Medical Department under Dr Charles I Wabner, who joined the Clinic that year to introduce the specialty to the Springfield area.  Dr. Wabner had his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Louisville Hospitals.  This was followed by a Fellowship and Faculty membership in Hematology and Oncology at Ohio State University.  Under Dr. Wabner, Hematology and Oncology grew rapidly as a specialty in Springfield.  Dr Wabner did the first continuous infusion for chemotherapy in 1966.  He helped organize the first Oncology Unit at Memorial Medical Center.

 Dr. Ennis died in 1967. 

Dr John Spangler joined in 1967 and remained with the Clinic until 1972 when he moved to Honolulu.  Dr. Spangler was a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine.  He served his residency at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago.  Image intensifying units replaced the old fluoroscopic screens in 1967.  This eliminated the need for Radiologists and personnel to adapt the eyes for the darkroom by wearing red goggles.  With an intensifier, the fluoroscope could be used in subdued light.  Mr Justison recalled, "Every time you turned on the lights, you had to put on the red googles.  This scared the children."

 Dr. Henry F Rohs, a graduate of St. Louis University School of Medicine came to the Clinic in 1968.  He had trained at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and was especially interested in critical care. Active in the civic life of Springfield, Dr. James Graham served as President of the United Way, was a Director of the First National Bank, was chosen Copley First Citizen in 1968 and appointed to the Board of Directors of St John's Hospital in 1983. 

Dr Allen of the Clinic Surgery Department performed Springfield's first vascular access procedure in 1968. 

Dr Bilinsky came to Springfield in 1968 as consultant in Nephrology at Memorial Medical Center, advancing to Director, Division of Nephrology in 1974.  He directed the first local and regional Hemodialysis Program in Central Illinois and participated in the first renal transplant in Springfield in 1970.  He designed an developed satellite dialysis facilities in Alton, Quincy, Mattoon, Effingham, Jacksonville, Decatur, and Springfield.  In addition, he designed and implemented clinical computer programs for management of dialysis patient treatment and clinical information.  He is Clinical Associate in Internal Medicine at SIU Medical School.  He has published extensively, listing twenty-seven articles and presentations at the state and national levels. 

The two large, high volume hospitals in Springfield were considered adequate for clinical teaching of students and for residency programs, and in this capacity for serving jointly as the equivalent of a University teaching hospital; this was a plus for Springfield.  Joint discussions toward a common goal were initiated in late 1968 among the three participating institutions: Southern Illinois University, St. John's Hospital and Memorial Hospital (later to become Memorial Medical Center).

 The Clinic Neurology Department was opened in 1969 by Dr Wesley L Betsill who had his initial training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and finished with a Neurology Residency at the Medical College of South Carolina.  Dr Betsill was the first Clinical Neurologist in the Springfield area.  Prior to the time Dr Betsill joined the Clinic, all of the internists handled neurology; none of them considered it as a subspecialty. 

With the change to one vote for each partner, the partnership agreement provided for the election of a Planning Committee, with the founding partners remaining on the committee as voting members.  By 1969 the founding partners were in the minority as the Planning Committee enlarged.  The Planning Committee became an executive committee responsible to the partnership. 

 Dr. Allen worked with the first kidney transplant team in Springfield.  This opened the path for a highly developed transplant service in the medical school later and brought with it the immunologic laboratory and other support services necessary for this work.  He introduced a variety of pediatric procedures for the newborn. 

Dr. Virgilio R Pilapil, a board certified Pediatrician with subspecialty training in Pediatric Cardiology, was the first subspecialist to join the Clinic in January 1970 and proved a big help to Dr Harp and Smalley. Dr. Pilapil introduced catheterization of the umbilical artery and vein for blood gas studies and arteriography in neoates.  When intravenous hyperalimentation became acceptable as a parenteral mode of supplying nutrition, he was involved with the first patient on whom this was used at the then Premature Center at St. John's Hospital in collaboration with the hospital pharmacists. 

Dr. Baisier first visited in Swithzerland to observe joint replacement.  He performed his first total hip replacement in May 1970 and had completed his one hundredth on September 27, 1972.

Dr. Manson was occupied full time with Gastroenterology.  Endoscopy referrals were numerous and equipment for diagnostic studies had been added progressively in the Clinic and in the two hospitals.  Colonoscopy had been introduced in 1970 when Dr. James Graham reduced and limited his work to Colon and Rectal Surgery.

Dr. Phillip Furman, who had trained at the Mayo Clinic, joined in 1970 but withdrew in 1972 to move to North Dakota to join the Grand Forks Clinic, North Dakota. 

Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery took off from the start in Springfield.  Dr. Virgilio Pilapil, a pediatric cardiologist and Dr. Marion S. Panepinto, who had recently completed his residency at University of Iowa joined the Clinic in 1970.  Up to that time, Dr Smalley was the only cardiologist doing adult cardiac catherterization.  He needed help.  Dr Pilapil became involved not only with cardiac catheterization in infants and children, but eventually with cardiac catheterization and coronary arteriography in adults. 

In 1970, Dr. Betsill organized The Electroencephalographic School of Technology at St John's Hospital and has been Medical Director of the school since then.  He was instrumental in organizing the teaching program at Southern Illinois University of Medicine School; he is Clinical Associate Professor.

In 1970, Dr James Graham reduced his practice to surgery of the colon, rectum and anus.  He visited centers in Knoxville, Tennessee; Rochester, Minnesota; and San Francisco, California; with special reference to colonoscopy.  Fluoroscopic control of colonoscopy was established that year in the operating suite at St John's Hospital, the precursor of the Gastrointestinal Laboratory. 

Rita Nortrup, RN, left the Infectious Disease Unit at St John's Hospital to train in Enterostomal therapy at the University of Rochester to become the first Enterostomal Therapist in downstate Illinois.  Enterostomal Therapy was introduced in St. John's Hospital and in Memorial Medical Center, an Ostomy Club was formed, and regular monthly meetings of the Club were initiated. 

A Stoma Center was established at St John's Hospital.   Dr. Richard Moy of the University of Chicago faculty was selected as Dean and Provost of the new school in January 1970.  The Clinic gave enthusiastic support to the new perspective on medicine in Springfield, a medical school. 

 Dr. Donald J Boon, whose subspeciality was Pediatric Allergy, was a member of the Pediatrics Department from 1971 to 1974. 

Dr Anthony Hawe joined the Clinic in association with Dr Harp in Cardiovascular Surgery.  Dr Hawe was a graduate from Liverpool University in England.  He served his residency at Northern Hospital in Liverpool.

Dr Steven P Korda reestablished Pulmonary Medicine when he joined the Medical Department in 1971.  A graduate of Budapest Medical School, Hungary, Dr Korda came to the United States for an internship at St Michael's Hospital in Newark, NJ.  He then took a residency in Internal Medicine at Middlesex Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, and this was followed by a Fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Illinois Research and Education Hospital in Chicago.  Dr. Korda practiced Pulmonary Medicine as a subspecialty, preferring, like many Internists, to keep his hand in Internal Medicine.  He set out immediately to update the Clinic in spirometric equipment for ventilatory function testing.  This was a a time, too, when mine workers and their widows were seeking medical disability assessments for anthracosis.  The men were examined in the Clinic; widows procured the hospital and physician office records of their deceased husbands. 

Inhalation Therapy equipment was installed for outpatient treatments.  Dr Korda taught the nurses and technicians and supervised the overall operation.  He did the first percutaneous pleural biopsy in the city. 

A General Electric tomographic unit came in 1971 as the first multi-directional unit in Springfield.  It took slices of anatomy down to one millimeter.  By 1971, Dr William Sherrick of the Memorial Radiology Staff joined Dr. King and Dr. Lewis in the Clinic work.  Now, eleven Memorial Radiologist come on a daily rotating schedule.  A second Radiologist comes in on scheduled days for special and invasive procedures, such as mammograms, arthrograms, or ultrasound that displays organs on a video screen and reproduces the images on either Polaroid or x-ray film. 

Don Vasterling succeeded Miss Hudson in 1971.  He had been Chief Physical Therapist at Memorial Hospital.  He held a Bachelor of Science degree were earned at St Louis University.  Don expanded the Department to triple in size, equipment, and volume of physical therapy patients.  Patient volume was in the range of 50 patients daily. 

 Dr. Choon B Choi came to the Orthopedic Department in 1972.  He is a graduate of Yonsei University Medical School in Korea.  His hospital training was at New York University Medical Center, St. Fransic Hospital in Wichitas, and St. Joseph Hospital in Denver.  He is a Clinical Associate Professor. 

Shortly after Dr. Kerrison Juniper joined the faculty of the Medical School as Chief of Gastroenterology in 1972, a Gastrointestinal Laboratory was established in St. John's Hospital.  Prior to that time fluoroscopic control of endoscopic procedures was carried out in the x-ray laboratories or the surgical departments of the hopsitals. 

Being the first Pediatric Cardiologist in the city, Dr Pilapil was the first to perform cardiac catheterization in very young infants and prematures and introduced the newly known non-surgical balloon atrial septostomy (Rashkind Procedure) to help cyanotic newborns with transposition of the great vessels.  In 1972, he introduced through a pilot study the heart sound screening program for school children in three Springfield public schools. 

The Eye department was inactive for eight years until Dr Stephen A Kwedar joined the Clinic in 1972.  Dr Kwedar was from a medical family;his father, Dr A.T. Kwedar, a surgeon, and his uncle, Dr. Edward Kwedar, an ophthalmologist, practiced in Springfield.  Dr. Stephen Kwedar preferred group practice.  He attended Northwestern Medical School and had his hospital training at the University of Oregon and at Barnes Hospital in St Louis.  Dr. Kwedar brought many new techniques to Springfield; intraocular lens implantation, phacoemulsification, trabeculectomy, and trabeculoplasty, photocoagulation of diabetic retinopathy and retinal holes, dacryocystorhinostomy, the YAG laser and laser iridectomy.  The Optometry section of the Eye Department was started in 1972.  Dr Kwedar brought in Richard E Blunk, OD.  Dr Blunk received his BS degree from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and his OD degree from the University of Waterloo, School of Optometry, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. 

Doctor Muktesh L Mehra joined the Clinic Neurology Department with Dr Betsill.  Dr Mehra was a Research Fellow in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Senior and Chief Resident in Neurology at the New England Medical Center, and Resident in Neuropathology at Harvard Medical Hospital.  He left the Clinic in 1974 to enter solo practice.  The Clinic enjoyed a short experience with Neurosurgery when Dr Matias Castro joined.  He was with the Clinic for 2 years, leaving in 1974 to practice in the Chicago area. 

An oral surgeon, Dr Robert A Colantino, DDS, joined in 1972 and was in the department until 1978 when he left to form a single specialty group. 

 Dr. Rohs was named Coordinator of Intensive Care at St. John's Hospital.  To the present date he has acted in this capacity, in addition to his regular practice of Internal Medicine in the Clinic.  He is Clinical Associate Professor in the Medical School. 

Dr. Baisier worked in Aix-le-Bains, France, at the world famous Clinic of Doctor Herbert, who is known for his work in total hip and total knee replacements. Dr James T Dove associated in Cardiology in 1973.  Hi received his degree in Medicine from Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland and served as a resident at Mt Sinai Hospital in New York City and at the University of Rochester, New York. 

The Optical Shop of the Springfield Clinic was started in 1973.  It was headed by Mr Larry Muir, a board certified Optician.  A finish lab was started in 1986 and is headed by Mr Roger Wainwright, who is also board certified Optician.  Together with Dr Hawe and Dr Panepinto, Dr Korda initiated the first State Code system for the Clinic in 1973.  

It was 10 years before Dr Adarsh A Kumar reopened the Dermatology Department in August 1973.  Dr Kumar received his medical schooling at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.  He served a medical internship at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and then a Dermatology Residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St Lukes Medical Center from 1970 through 1973.  Dr. Kumar was among the first in the area to use cryosurgery in dermatological practice and was the first practicing dermatopathologist in Central Illinois. 

 Dr. William Schultz associated with Dr. Maletich in 1974.  He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and served his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Illinois Research and Educational Hospital.  Dr. Schultz withdrew in 1983 to join Springfield Obstetrics and Gynecologic Associates. 

By 1974, Dr Harp felt the need for a hospital base, since he was spending most of his time in St. John's Hospital.  He moved into St. John's Hospital, developed an excellent paramedical team, and gained a wide reputation throughout downstate Illinois. 

Dr Hawe stayed in the Clinic as cardiac surgeon and Dr Paneinto and Dove continued as cardiologists.  Dr Smalley had moved to Memorial Medical Center to direct a cardiology unit there.

Dr Gennon Paul joined Dr Korda in Pulmonary Medicine in 1974.  Dr Paul attended the University of Missouri School of Medicine and had his special training in Pulmonary Medicine and Allergy at the University of Washington in Seattle.  He withdrew from the Clinic in 1975 to enter solo practice.

When classes began in 1974, the Ostomy Club member and Enterostomal Therapists help seminars for the students on "Life with an Ostomy".  Enterostomal Therapists attended ostomy patients in the Clinic on Wednesday afternoons. Dr Glennon Paul joined the Clinic in February 1974 in Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine, restricting himself to these fields.  He remained with the Clinic until August 1975 when he left to enter solo practice. 

 By 1975, the Colon and Rectal Surgery section needed help and Dr Ernesto B Eusebio was recruited from Dr Stanley Goldberg's service at the University of Minnesota.  Dr Eusebio was Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Minnesota and Assistant Chief of Surgery at Mt Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis.  His degree is from Far Eastern University in Manila.  Dr Eusebio has an abiding interest in continuing medical education and has been recognized by the Illinois Medical Society for his contributions to Continuing Education and for his work as a Continuing Medical Education (CME) Surveyor. 

When Dr James N White joined the Medical Department in 1975, he brought to the department the subspecialty of Nephrology.  He is a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia and served a residency in Internal Medicine at George Washington University Medical Center and a Fellowship in Nephrology at Ohio State University.  Dialysis has been available in the hospitals from the time Dr Allen of the Clinic Surgical Department performed Springfield's first vascular access procedure in 1968.

 Dr. Stephen T Randag joined the Medical Department in 1976.  He attended St Louis University School of Medicine and served his Internal Medicine Residency at Santa Clara Valley Hospital which is affiliated with Standford University and is located in San Jose, California.  Dr. Randag is a Clinical Associate in Internal Medicine at the Medical School. 

On August 18, 1976, Dr Harp was killed in an airplane crash in Colorado.

Long before the State of Illinois required proof of CME, the Clinic recognized the need for regular update on clinical theories and practice.  In addition to individual participation in courses and specialty college meetings, the Clinic organized regular update meetings for area physicians.  First help in 1976, they expanded to the largest meeting room of the Springfield Sangamo Club by 1982, and now welcome an average of 50 to 60 physicians each month. 

 Dr. Fluckiger joined the Clinic to establish a Department of Family Practice. 

Dr David E Kinser joined the Clinic in 1977.  Dr Kinser received BS, MS and PhD degrees in Engineering Science and Engineering Mechanics from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, OH.  He receive his MD degree from the University of Michigan.  He did his internship at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, WA and served his Ophthalmology residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver.  While waiting for his residency he spent several months in Springfield practicing with Dr Harvard Romence. 

In 1977, Dr Kumar introduced long wave ultraviolet light (PUVA) in Springfield. 

Twenty-six years later, in 1977, Doctor HWR Fluckiger joined the Clinic to establish the Department of Family Practice.   He had served an internship at Memorial Hospital (Springfield) in 1951 and practiced solo for a number of years. 

Dr Natalia and Stefan Kozak, a husband and wife team in Family Practice, joined with Dr Fulckiger later the same year.  The Kozaks had graduated from Washington University School of Medicine and had served residencies in Family Practice at the University of Iowa.  Dr Stefan teaches regularly at SIU Department of Family Practice where he services as a Clinical Associate. 

 Dr. Richard L Smith joined Dr. Manson in Gastroenterology in 1978.  Dr. Smith received his M.D. degree from Washington University School of Medicine.  He served an Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals, completing his term as Chief Resident of the Department of Medicine.  He was Staff Physician with the U.S. Public Health Service and Staff Physician at the Veterans Administration Hospital in St. Louis.  He completed a Fellowship in Gastroenterology at Washington University before coming to Springfield in 1978.

Paul Anthony, OD, joined the Eye Department in 1978.  He received his OD degree from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago.  He left the clinic in 1983 to enter private practice.Dr Wabner was Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Medical Center from 1978 to 1984; he was president of the staff from 1978 to 1980 and Chairman of the Oncology Committee from 1978 to 1984. 

The laboratory has continued to expand and is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation.  Services are provided in the areas of chemistry, hematology, microbiology, and urinalysis.  This chemistry and hematology sections have been increasingly computerized since 1978. 

 Dr. Rohs was Chairman of the Department of Medicine at St. John's Hospital from 1979 to 1985 and served as President of the Medical Staff from 1985 to 1987.

Dr. Cunningham was killed in an automobile accident in 1979.

Dr. Keith Wichterman came to the Surgical Department in 1979.  Dr. Wichterman was well known to the Clinic staff all through his schooling at Washington University and his residencies at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and at Yale New Haven Hospital.  Dr. Wichterman participated in the first treatment of breast cancer by lumpectomy and radiation therapy.  He initated continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and choledochoscopy in Springfield.  He served for a year as Co-director of the Burn Unit at Memorial Medical Center and as Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the hospital.

Dr Dove decided that he should be hospital based.  He withdrew from the Clinic to an office in St. John's Hospital where he envisioned a comprehensive group of cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons.  This had been accomplished in the formation of the Prairie Cardiovascular Center, composed of six Cardiologists and three Cardiac Surgeons. 

Dr Hawe followed to the hospital in 1979, leaving only Dr Panepinto as the Cardiologist in the Clinic.

Dr James Madison was with the clinic for a very short period.  He moved to a university practice in Minnesota.

In 1979, Dr William Zimmer joined Dr Wabner.  He withdrew in 1981 to a fill time Oncology practice based in St John's Hospital.

In 1979 Betty J Green RN, was designated Chief Nurse.  Betty was well acquainted with the Clinic systems, as she had previously been an office nurse for Dr Dilts and had served as supervisor of an expanding Medical Department.  Under the auspices of the Medical Audit and Peer Review Committee, Betty set up a Nursing Audit Committee, the goal of which was to assess the status of nursing service, assure quality nursing care in the Clinic, and involved the nursing personnel in the decisions.  Later, the goal was expanded to include education and risk management.  As the Clinic grew and these administrative duties increased, a need was recognized for someone to work directly with the nurses. 

 Dr. Donald R. Graham came from the Centers for Disease Control in 1980 to establish the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Clinic.  A graduate from Washington University School of Medicine, he served a residency in Internal Medicine at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and then a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Washington University Hospital(Barnes, Jewish, and Veterans Hospitals).  From there he went to Atlanta, GA, to service as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and in the Hospital Infections Branch of the Centers for Disease Control.  Dr. Graham introduced Springfield to the Epidemiologic Method for Investigation of Disease Cluster in hospitals and other institutions.  He was not long in gaining the confidence of Springfield physicians, in and out of the Clinic, in the role of an Infectious Disease specialist in the management of multisystem illness.  Diseases such as AIDS, Toxic Shock Syndrome, Campylobacteriosis, delta hepatitis, Legionellosis, have entered medical parlance in this very brief time.

In 1980, a Dietetics subsection was added. 

A continuing Education program for nurses and other area medical personnel was instituted.  Seminars are conducted by the professional staff of the Clinic and are help from 7PM to 8PM in the main reception area of the Clinic. 

By 1980, two full time computer programmers, Ken Cardoni and Gary Hudelson, were in the Clinic's employ.  The Clinic now has two Certified Public Accountants on staff full time. 

 Dr Keith Henry, a native of Springfield and a son of Dr William Henry of the Franklin Life Insurance Company Medical Department, joined the Clinic in 1981 after serving his residency in Internal Medicine at Barnes Hospital.  He left in 1983 to pursue subspecialty training in Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota, where he now directs the acquired immono-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) clinical treatment unit. 

Dr. Pilapil is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.  In addition to Pediatric Cardiology, Dr. Pilapil carried on a general practice of Pediatrics.  He left the Clinic in March 1981 to enter solo practice.

Dr. Thomas E Baron opened the Department again in 1981.  He had finished at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1972 and had served his Urology Residency at the same institution form 1972 to 1977.  He moved to Springfield after practicing in the "Kidney Stone Belt" of North Carolina for four years.  The Department again expanded rapidly under his direction.  He introduced in Springfield the Stamey procedure for incontinence; he was among the first to use extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL).  Dr. Baron is Clinical Associate Professor of Urology at SIU and is coordinator of the ESWL center at Memorial Medical Center.

Dr James D Rogers joined the Clinic in Cardiovascular Surgery.By 1981, patient volume had increased sufficiently to support a third Colon & Rectal surgeon.  Dr John D Zander came to the Clinic from his Fellowship in Colon, Rectal and Anal Surgery at the Ferguson Hospital and Clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He has particular interests in gastrointestinal stapling as applied to surgery of the colon and rectum and in the increasing surgical use of the colonoscope. 

Dr. W Gerald Klingler joined with Dr Kumar in Dermatology in 1981.  He is a University of Michigan Medical School graduate and served his Dermatology Residency at the University of North Carolina and the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.  He offered skin cancer screening to the public at no charge and has made special use of cryosurgery for skin cancer control.  He is Clinical Assistant Professor in the medical school. 

Don Vasterling died suddenly in 1981.  His wife Mary, who was working as a therapist part time, stepped in to guide the department for several months until Linda Crews took over from April 1981 to December 1982. 

 Dr. Charles R. Potter joined the Clinic in 1982.  He was a graduate of Washington University School of Medicine and he trained at Jewish Hospital and at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.  He introduced spetoplasty and septorhinoplasty, done without nasal packing; this provides for an immediate postoperative airway and greatly reduces postoperative pain. 

Dr Patey's interest and effort in collagen and rheumatoid diseases, date back to 1954 as a subspecialty, were formalized in the Clinic when Doctor Mark A. Stern opened the Division of Rheumatology in 1982.  Dr Stern is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine and took his Internal Medicine and Rheumatology training at St. Louis University.  He served on their faculty for two years. 

By and large, it appeared that each dentist, after a short or long time, decided he would prefer to practice solo or with a dental group.  Although the Dental Department operated successfully, and the medical doctors and dentists got along well as partners and business associates, there was not sufficient crossover diagnosis and treatment to create a close mix.  The department closed with the death of Dr. Thieben in 1982.

By the time Thomas Byrne came to the Physical Therapy Department in January 1982, the demand for rehabilitation and physical therapy had increased considerably, due in no small measure to the development of the Rheumatology section.  Byrne earned a Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy at the University of Illinois.  He followed this with clinical training at Children's Development Center in Rockford, Mercy Hospital in Champaign, and at Memorial Medical Center and St. Johns Hospital in Springfield.  He was a member of the staff at St Johns Hospital. 

 Dr. Richard Snowden, a graduate of SIU School of Medicine and Residency program, joined the Medical Department of the Clinic from 1983 to 1985, when he returned to his native Mattoon to being solo practice. 

Charles E Swain, Jr, PhD, has been part of the Clinic Audiologists in the Department of Otolaryngology since 1983.  A member of the American Speech and Hearing Association, he holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Pathology.  He established a hearing aid service in which the Audiologist dispense hearing aids directly to the patient on recommendation of an Otolaryngologist. 

Dr Rogers introduced the surgical technique of cold cardioplegia, and he placed the first diaphragmatic pacer in a quadriplegic person with a C1-C2 paralysis in 1983.  The arterial diaphragmatic pacing apparatus was flown in from Yale University where Dr Rogers had trained.Dr Kelvin van Osdol was also with the clinic for a short period.  He moved before Dr Madison to a cardiology group in Springfield and then to a cardiology group to Springfield, MO.

Dr. Graham retired from clinical practice in 1983, but he remains an active author and a consultant to the State of Illinois Division of Rehabilitation, the Illinois Department Public Aid, and the Illinois Bureau of Long Term Care.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of St. John's Hospital. 

By 1983, patients were being taught to measure blood glucose levels at home, which aided greatly in their diabetic control.

 Dr. Cary Tauchman joined the Pediatric Department in 1984 after training at the SIU affiliated Hospitals, St. John's and Memorial Medical Center.  He moved to Wisconsin to join a single specialty group in 1985.

Dr. Daniel M Adair associated with the Clinic in 1984, the year Dr. Woody retired.  Dr. Adair attended SIU School of Medicine, served his Orthopedic residency at Bowman Gray in North Carolina and practiced for two years at the Physicians Group before joining the Clinic.  He founded the Sports Medicine Program at Humana Hospital and now directs the Sports Care Program at Memorial Medical Center.  He is a Clinical Associate Professor at SIU. 

Dr. Smith elected for a hospital based practice and joined with the Gastroenterology group at St. John's Hospital.

Dr Rogers moved to Springfield, MO in 1984.

Dr Wabner accepted the position of full time Medical Director at the same institution, which required his withdrawal from the clinic. 

The SIU School of Medicine Television Department, in 1984, co-produced with Dr Eusebio a video on "Parasacral Approach to Lesions of the Proximal Rectum." 

On display in the reception areas and in consultation and examining rooms are various publications that have been written by the Clinic staff in the field of health education.  Since 1984, the Clinic has offered videotapes describing common diseases and operative procedures.  Topics range from AIDS to prostate surgery; tapes may be viewed at the Clinic or at home.  Educational articles written by Clinic physicians now circulate to patients in a monthly "Newsletter" that is included with all billings.  Inaugurated in 1984, each symposium has a theme, high-lighted by nationally known speakers in the field and supported by local and regional speakers, including those from the Clinic and Southern Illinois University of Medicine.  The "Employee of the Month" award began in 1984 under the aegis of Planning Committee Chairman Keith Wichterman, MD.  Time clocks, identification badges, and a uniform dress code were introduced in 1988.

 Three physicians, Dr. Michael Bradley, Dr. Randolph W Roller and Dr. J Michael Zinzilieta, joined the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the Clinic as a group in March 1985.  All three trained at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine affiliated hospitals.  Each is a Clinical Assistant Professor at SIU. 

Dr Baron was ready for help by 1985, at which time he brought in Dr. David A Roszhart who is a graduate of SIU School of Medicine and who had served his residency in Urology in the SIU program at St John's Hospital and Memorial Medical Center.  Dr. Roszhart was well known to the Clinic staff when he joined.  He is a Clinical Associate Professor. 

Timothy Edwards, OD, joined the Eye Department in 1985.  Dr Edwards received his OD degree from Indiana University in 1982. 

The Hematology and Oncology Section was not vacant for long after Dr Wabner accepted the Medical Directorship at Memorial Medical Center, for Dr Edward L Braud came to the Clinic from a solo practice in Alton in January 1985 to continue the section.  Dr Braud is a graduate from Louisiana State University School of Medicine and served his Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center.  He is Chairman of Memorial Medical Center Cancer Committee and Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.  Dr. Braud is a Clinical Associate in the medical school.

Dr Karen L Hoelzer followed soon, joining Dr Braud in July 1985.  She completed her work at St Louis University Hospitals.  She is a Clinical Associate at SIU.

Dr Elizabeth Small associated with the Clinic in Dermatology in 1985.  She is a graduate of John Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her residency in Dermatology at Johns Hopskins in 1981.  She was a solo practitioner in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 1981 to 1986. Dr Small is a Clinical Associate Professor.  Her special interests are in photoaging, adult acne and sclerotherapy of spider veins.  She left the clinic at the end of 1988.

In 1985, Three physicians in Family Practice, Geoffrey Bland, Joseph Cerbin, and Virginia Wade joined the clinic as a group.  Together with the Clinic, they constructed a satellite Clinic Building at the southwest corner of the city.  Dr. Cerbin left for a practice in Michigan and later to manage a satellite office for the South Bend Clinic.  Dr. Bland is a graduate of Dalhousie University School of Medicine in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  He completed his residency training in the Halifax hospitals: Victoria General, Grace Maternity Hospital, and Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children.  He is Clinical Assistant Professor at SIU School of Medicine.  Dr. Wade is a graduate of Albany Medical College.  She served her residency in the SIU Family Practice programs at St John's Hospital and Memorial Medical Center.  She is a Clinical Instructor at SIU. 

Dr. Scott A Morton joined with Dr Bland and Dr Wade at the Wabash Family Practice Center.  Dr Morton is a Springfield native and a graduate of SIU School of Medicine, as well as the SIU Family Practice residency program in SIU affiliated hospitals.  He is a Clinical Instructor at the school.

Two physicians, Dr Cameron C Olson and Kenneth DeVries, established the Family Practice Center in Sherman in 1985.  Both physicians were natives of Canada and came to Springfield to practice in Humana Hospital in 1982.  Dr DeVries left for Wisconsin in 1986.  Dr Olson practices part time at the main campus of the Clinic in Springfield.

Dr. Mark A Pierce joined with Dr Graham in the Infectious Disease section in 1985 and left in 1987 for further graduate work at the University of Alabama. 

Within 3 years, Dr Stern needed help.  Recruitment brought Dr Michael A. Pick from solo practice on January 2, 1985.  Dr Pick was well acquainted with the Springfield Clinic.  Having attended Southern Illinois University of Medicine in Springfield, he continued his graduate and residency training in the medical school associated hospitals, St. John's and Memorial Medical Center.  He served his Rheumatology Fellowship at Los Angeles County Medical Center.  He is Clinical Associate Professor at SIU. 

The Endocrine section was ready for more help in 1985.  Dr. David Hoelzer was recruited and joined the department.  A Biology graduate of Colgate University, Dr. Hoelzer obtained his Medical degree from St. Louis University.  He served an Internal Medicine residency at St. Louis University hospital and followed this with a Fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.  He serves as Clinical Assistant Professor at SIU.  Following in the footsteps of Doctor Dilts, he founded and currently directs the Optifast Obesity Management Center at St. John's Hospital.The Bulletin employs a managing editor and carries commercial advertising.  Successive editors have been Dr James Graham, Virgilio Pilapil, and co-editors Ernesto Eusebio and Donald E Graham.  Listing in the Index Medicus is pending.  The Bulletin adheres to the policies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, of which the Clinic has been a member since 1985.

Since 1985, the school has had a 4-year curriculum.  The large number of Board certified and Board eligible physicians in Springfield made this a feasible program.  The largest attendance was 115, at the 1985 conference on malpractice prevention, sponsored jointly by the Clinic and the Illinois State Medical Society. In 1985, the Springfield Clinic Building Corporation sold its assets to the Clay Scarritt Partnership, which now owns all of the Clinic buildings and equipment. 

A search committee was formed in 1985 to seek a new Administrator to replace John Montgomery who had announced plans to retire at age 65.  Mr J Michael Maynard was selected and he joined the Clinic in February 1987.In 1985, the pharmacy was transferred to a successor organization, the Clay Scarritt Partnership. 

 Dr. Cynthia Wait, who had completed her Fellowship in Gastroenterology at Cook County Hospital, became the first woman gastroenterologist in Springfield in 1986.  She enjoyed enormous popularity among her patients, including children, one of her special interests.  In 1987 she married and joined her husband in Waukegan, WI. 

Dr Robert E Finch, JR, in 1986, came to the Clinic ENT/Head and Neck Department form a solo practice in Colorado and then in Springfield.  He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.  He served his General Surgery internship at St Louis University and his residency in Otolaryngology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  He also served a Fellowship in Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Wisconsin.  Dr. Finch was the first to perform sinus endoscopy in SPringfield.  He was also the first to use YAG lasers to treat telangiectasia in the head and neck of patients with Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome.  In 1986 he was named Clinical Attending Surgeon of the year by the SIU surgical residents. 

Dr Claude J Fortin was with the Neurology Department for a short time, July 1986 to May 1987.  He left the Clinic to join with Dr. Donald Pearson, neurosurgeon, to form a Neurology/Neurosurgery team. 

Dr Kumar resigned from the clinic in 1986.In 1986, Dr Graham served for five weeks with the Department of Medicine at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti.  There, he assisted in the organization of an infection control program. 

X-rays were taken there in the same fashion as they had been at the Clinic in 1940. In July of 1986,

Mary Stewart, RN, assumed the responsibilities of Nursing Coordinator in addition to her duties as office nurse for one of the surgeons.  In the fall of the year, Mary realized her own family would be increasing, and she wished to lesson her Clinic responsibilities.  The duties of Nursing Coordinator were then assumed by Lynda England, RN.

 Dr. Terry Jones joined the Clinic in 1987, after having practiced with Dr Ann Pearson in the Medical Group from 1985 to 1987.  He graduated from SIU School of Medicine and served his residency at St. John's Hospital and Memorial Medical Center.  He is a Clinical Instructor in the medical school.

Two years later, Dr Ernest E Ertmoed and Dr. John C Young, who had practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology in their office one-half block south of the Clinic, joined their practice with the Clinic but maintained their separate office.  Dr. Ertmoed received his medical degree from Northwestern University and served his residency at the SIU hospitals, St John's and Memorial Medical Center.  He is a Clinical Assistant Professor.  Dr. Young is a founding member of the Care Center of Springfield, a ten-year old organization to battle the stubbornly high infant mortality in IL, together with the high teenage pregnancy rates, and to link indigent women with appropriate medical care and other needed resources. 

Dr Wabner held the position until 1987 when he returned to the Hematology and Oncology in the Clinic.  Dr Wabner is Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at SIU.  Nephrology in the Clinic expanded when Dr. Richard T Bilinsky associated in 1987.  He served at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago. 

Dr Michael J Wilson associated with the Family Practice Department of the Clinic in 1987.  He served his residency in Family Practice in the SIU Program, then practiced with the Christian County Medical Clinic in Taylorville before joining the Springfield Clinic. 

Dr James Stegeman, another graduate of the SIU Family Practice program, joined the satellite on Wabash Avenue by way of the Carle Clinic in Urbana, Illinois, where he had been a co-developer of several clinical projects: an Occupational Medicine program, the first Critical Incident Debriefing Team in Illinois, and certain objective quality assurance tools for physicians.  He is a Clinical Instructor in the medical school.

Dr Ronald Mings, of St. Louis University and Jewish Hospital in St Louis, joined the Clinic with practice limited to adult and pediatric Allergy.  Active in lecturing and publishing while with the Clinic staff, Dr Mings was Clinical Associate with the medical school.  In the interval between his Internal Medicine residency and his Allergy Fellowship, he had practiced Internal Medicine for eight years in West Frankfort, Il.  He returned to his home area of southern Illinois in December 1988, when he joined the Carbondale Clinic. 

To solve problems of space and additional equipment, a satellite Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Center was opened in 1987.  This is located six blocks south of the Clinic.  Most patients are seen initially on referral in the Physical Therapy section in the main Clinic building.  Follow-up visits are scheduled for the satellite.  The Rehabilitation Center offers one of the most inclusive and finest therapy programs in the area.  The number of therapy procedures is now in the range of 110 daily. 

In a reorganization of the Clinic administration in 1987, Betty Green moved out of the area of nursing to become the Systems Coordinator.  Lynda England was appointed Nursing Director.  Under Lynda's guidance, nursing involvement and communication have expanded through an elected Nursing Representative Committee.  Lynda has also put emphasis on the quality of nursing service by the creation of standardized nursing procedures and Clinic-wide cardiac emergency capabilities. 

With the expansion of the Clinic to the many satellite locations, the need for direct contract of Nursing Administration with all departments increased.  The position of Assistant Nursing Director was created to coordinate all of the satellite personnel and procedures.  Suzanne Havey, RN, was appointed to this position.

Mr J Michael Maynard joined the Clinic as the new Administrator.  Mr Maynard holds two Master's degrees from Marshall University in Huntington, WV, one with a Major in Management and another with a Major in Accounting.  He served as Administrator in the Medical Arts Clinic of Dixon, Illinois, from 1980 to 1987.  He established in Dixon a marketing oriented strategy of three satellite clinics with two more satellites in the development stage at the time he came to the Springfield Clinic.  

 Dr. Gary Shull joined the department in 1989.  He is a graduate of the University of Chicago School of Medicine and served his residency in the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  Dr. Shull had practiced in Decatur and Indianapolis before joining the Clinic.Dr. Eveloff retired from practice in September 1988 after a very long and distinguished career.The Care Center received the Illinois State Medical Society's top Non-physician Award for 1988. 

In July, Dr Tammie A Klein associated with the Department on the main Clinic campus.  She served her residency at SIU affiliated hospitals, St John's and Memorial Medical Center. 

Dr. Mark A Harrison joined the Clinic in Gastroenterology in 1988.  He received his medical degree from the University of Missouri and served an internship and then a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.  These were followed by a Fellowship in Gastroenterology at the same insititution.  He is a Clinical Instructor in Gastroenterology in SIU School of Medicine.  He has special interests in laparoscopic liver biopsy and esophageal manometry. 

In 1988, in addition to his full practice in Cardiology, Dr Panepinto served as President of the Sangamon County Medical Society.

Dr Eric P Lohse joined with Dr Kwedar and Dr Kinser in July 1988.  Dr Lohse a native to Dixon, Illinois, received his undergraduate and medical school training at Northwestern University in Chicago as a participant in the special six-year Honors Program in Medical Education.  Subsequently, Dr. Lohse completed his Ophthalmology residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and finally did a Fellowship in Corneal Transplantation Surgery.  Refractive Surgery and External Diseases of the Eye at Washington University/Barnes Hospital in St Louis before coming to the Clinic.  Dr. Lohse did the first corneal transplant in the city of Springfield on August 24, 1988.  Prior to this time, patients had to travel to Chicago or St Louis for corneal transplantation. 

Dr Susan Strow Stegeman, a native of Springfield and a graduate of SIU School of Medicine, joined the clinic in 1988 from a private practice in Springfield.  She had served her Ophthalmology residency at the University of Alabama Hospitals in Birmingham. 

The entire Ophthalmology Department moved to the Clinic's newest office in the second floor of St John's Hospital Pavilion and opened a fully modern set of operating suites, along with an advanced Optical Shop, featuring video instructional tapes for patients. 

In 1988, Dr Graham worked at the Hospital Tony Facio Castro in Limon, Costa Rica, along with a 36-person delegation from the Illinois Volunteer Optometrists Service to Humanity. 

 Dr. William Putman, a graduate of Creighton University School of Medicine, joined with Dr. Young and Dr. Ertmoed in July 1989.  He served his residency at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals.

In May, 1989, Dr. Baron completed his studies for the MBA at the University of Illinois in Urbana.

Dr. Alec Chan-Pong joined as the 3rd member of the department.  He served his residency at the University of Wisconsin and his Fellowship at the University of Vermont. 

Dr Daniel Dodwell, a retinal surgeon, joined the staff of the Ophthalmology department in 1989.  He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine and served residencies in the Massachusetts Medical Center, Northwestern University Hospitals in Chicago, the McGaw Medical Center in Chicago and the Lakeside Veterans Administration Hospital in Evenston. 

Dr Donald Van Fossan joined Dr Betsill in the Neurology Department in 1989.  Dr Van Fossan was a graduate from St Louis University School of Medicine and served his residency in Neurology at the University of California in Davis. 

Dr. Roger Harvey joined the Division in 1986.  He is a graduate of the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines, IA.  Dr. Harvey served a residency in Internal Medicine at Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown, OH and a Felllowship in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University. 

On May 1st, 1989, a merger was accomplished between the Springfield Clinic and the Hillsboro Medical Center. 

The staff in Hillsboro includes: Dr. Barbara Mulch who was a graduate from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, and served her residency in Internal Medicine at Ohio State University Hospitals; Dr. Walter Williams who is a graduate of St. Louis University School of Medicine and served his residency at St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis; Dr Douglas Byers who is a graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and who served his residency in Family Practice at St. Joseph's Hospital in Manson City, IA; Dr. Robert Mulch who graduated from Rush Medical School in Chicago and served his residency in Family Practice at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, OH.  Hillsboro Medical Center, now joined with Springfield Clinic, serves satellite medical offices in Raymond and Greenville, IL.