Cleveland's Centre

Philadelphia and Chicago last week discussed establishing medical centres. Philadelphia's would centre around the University of Pennsylvania's medical school; Chicago's around the Cook County Hospital. Stimulus of Chicago's discussion was the presidential election of the Chicago Medical Society last week.* Stimulus at Philadelphia was the meeting there the week before of the American Medical Association (TIME, June 22).

Both discussions happened to coincide with last week's dedication of Cleveland's Medical Centre.

The medical centre is a new idea in U. S. medicine. The practice of medicine may be outlined thus:

1) The private practitioner, who usually has some hospital connections.

2) The private clinic established by a shrewd doctor or group of doctors with a following.

3) The general hospital, private or governmental.

4) The special hospital, private or governmental, specializing in mental diseases, tuberculosis, cancer, orthopedics or some comparative feature of medicine.

5) The teaching hospital, which is a general or a special hospital, or both, in the same or separate buildings. The teaching hospital is always connected with a medical school.

6) The medical centre, which includes a medical school, several related hospitals and, peculiarly, research institutes. Best examples (though none is yet complete): the Johns Hopkins group at Baltimore, the Harvard group at Boston, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Centre (Manhattan).

When an outsider thinks of Cleveland medicine he is likely to think first of George Washington Crile's Cleveland Clinic. That is Dr. Crile's private business. Native Clevelanders first think of Lake-side Hospital, fondest philanthropy of Cleveland's famed Samuel Mather. He has been its president 32 years. To it he j has diverted much wealth from his vast iron ore, coal and steel business (Pickands, Mather & Co.). Lakeside has long been the teaching hospital for Western Reserve University's school of medicine. The two institutions used to be downtown, a half-mile from Mr. Mather's mansion on lower Euclid Avenue. The increase of smoky Cleveland factories and busy commercial buildings a generation ago drove the first families to the city's eastern outskirts. But Mr. Mather still lives downtown.

The inconveniences of smoke and commerce were annoying to the medical school and Lakeside Hospital. The two institutions ought to move, decided Mr. Mather. to the east, like the rest of the city. He guided them to a $5,000,000 area adjoining Western Reserve University and Case School of Applied Science. First he built a Medical School with his own money. That was finished in 1924. Then he got help to build schools of Nursing, Pharmacy and Dentistry, the Medical Library, Babies & Children's Hospital, Maternity Hospital, Rainbow Hospital (for crippled children), and an Institute for Pathology.

Those well started, he took $1,000,000 from one of his banks and called for more donations. Edward Stephen Harkness gave $1.000,000. Fourteen other less rich men each gave $100,000 or more. The whole community gave the rest--a total of $8.000,000. Result was the six new buildings dedicated last week--Lakeside Hospital, Leonard C. Hanna House (private hospital cases), and Mather, Harvey and Lowman Houses (nurses' dormitories).

Samuel Mather was, of course, the peg for the laurel wreaths of the occasion. Gathered about his silvery dignity were the men who run Cleveland--the bankers, steel men, coal men, hardware manufacturers, lawyers, politicians, scholars. It seemed to them a specially good time to honor Samuel Mather for in a few weeks (July 13) he would celebrate his 80th birthday.

Samuel Mather did not go to Harvard after graduating from St. Mark's School 62 years ago, because he was seriously injured that summer vacation working for his father's Cleveland Iron Mining Co. as timekeeper and payroll clerk. He convalesced in Europe for two years and returned directly to the family business. He amplified it until he became rated Ohio's richest citizen. Unlike John Davison Rockefeller, he and his wealth did not move away from Cleveland.

Those who would praise Samuel Mather learn that he dislikes full blown phrases. Rev. James De Long Williamson, his old friend, last week said simply: "Samuel Mather, today we dedicate to the service of mankind an institution that reflects your vision, devotion, sacrifice and generosity." The brief response of Mr. Mather, a religious Episcopalian: "I am thankful for the many blessings that have come to me and for the friends who stood loyally behind me through life."

* Elected president was Herman Louis Kretschmer, urologist; defeated, Edward H. Ochsner, surgeon.

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