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Ohio Orthopaedic Society 2010 Annual Meeting

May 13-14, 2010
Hyatt on Capitol Square
75 East State Street, Columbus, OH

A History of the Ohio Orthopaedic Society

At the Ohio State Medical meeting held on May 3, 1939, a group of orthopaedic surgeons met to form a permanent organization for the orthopaedic surgeons of Ohio. A temporary chairman, Burt G. Chollett of Toledo, was named. Dr. Chollett asked Albert H. Freiberg (Cincinnati), Walter Hoyt (Akron), Harlan Wilson (Columbus), and Clarence Heyman (Cleveland) to join him on a committee, which would iron out the details for the structure of the group.

Dr. Chollett worked diligently to organize this meeting. He corresponded with each participant on several occasions to relay the logistical information on the meeting and to ask each doctor to state his goals and purpose for the organization.

His letter revealed a man dedicated to his profession and his peers in orthopaedics. He was also a founder of the Clinical Orthopedic Society, the American Board, and the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He was one of the founders of the Ohio Society for Crippled Children and the forerunner of the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults. His accomplishments mirror the type of pioneering efforts responsible for the founding of the organization.

Dr. Chollett relied on the "judgment and advice" of Dr. Albert Freiberg, a man also considered to have been a pre-eminent surgeon. He was President of the American Orthopaedic Association and Chairman of the Section of Orthopaedic Surgery of the American Medical Association. At the first organized meeting of the Buckeye Orthopaedic Club, on May 14, 1940, Dr. Freiberg was elected the first President of the club. His expertise was not to be fully appreciated, however, as Dr. Freiberg passed away on July 14, 1940, to be succeeded by Dr. Chollett.

Each doctor had his differing opinions for the purpose of forming a special orthopaedic group. In a letter to Dr. Freiberg on April 20, 1939, Dr. Chollett stated, "It is my own personal hope to use such an organization as a power to back up the established work for the crippled children in Ohio…Also by such an organization to have something to say on the economical problems facing each and every one." In Dr. Freiberg’s reply, he stated that his "idea of the primary purpose of organizing an Ohio orthopaedic club was to get the orthopaedic men together at the time of the state meetings and to give them a greater professional interest in attending them" than was the case.

This two-fold purpose, governmental policy involvement and technical professional advancement, became the focus of the club. Dr. H.R. Conn of Akron wrote to Dr. Harlan Wilson, Secretary of the club, in April of 1941:

"I am certain there are many problems, particularly those concerned with the care of crippled children and the activities of the Industrial Commission, which we may in this manner and in no other influence."

"Because of the medico political potentialities of the Buckeye Orthopaedic Association, I hope the membership will be large." Membership at the first meeting of the Club was a total of fourteen.

One of the priorities of the Club at the time was The Crippled Children’s Division of the Department of Welfare. The appears to have been an on-going battle over funds and functions of the Department between the orthopedists and the administration, which was being influenced by the Women’s Board of the Children’s Hospital because of their relationship with the Governor’s wife. Miss Mabel Smith was being demoted, and was eventually dismissed as the head of the Crippled Children’s Division because, as Harlan Wilson put it, she was "accused of being in cahoots with some of the orthopaedic surgeons in the state and the orthopaedic surgeons were in turn…accused of racketeering." Dr. Wilson goes on to say in his letter to Dr. Chollett, "It seems sad that Miss Smith was able to weather the attacks made on her in the Davey administration, only to have the Bricker administration, which we regarded as strong and fair, give way at the first attack on this Department."

The members of the club were worried that the welfare of crippled children would be sacrificed due to turf battles within the administration and were afraid that Mabel Smith’s successor, Mrs. Field, would not share their concerns for the children. Fortunately, Mrs. Field was judicious and was not biased by the women from Children’s Hospital, who apparently wanted to control the department.

The Buckeye Orthopaedic Club kept busy with several issues during those first years. An occurrence of poliomyelitis in Ohio was causing concern and the Club offered its assistance to the State Department of Health by bringing aid to the children. The Industrial Commission’s fee policy was causing heated debate. The primary issue was the combined fee of $150 for fusion and removal of intravertebral disc, which was to be divided equally between the neurological surgeon and the orthopedist. Dr. Wilson stated to Dr. Theodore Vinke, who became President of the Society in 1954, that "The fee is, of course, ridiculous for such work, and I personally intend to refer such patients back to the Industrial Commission with the statement that I do not care to perform my part of the operation for the fee named."

Despite the time consumed by these issues, the Club continued to focus on clinical programs for the meetings. Doctors spoke on Albers-Schonberg’s Disease, Paget’s Disease with Destructive Lesion in the Humeral Shaft, Giant Cell Tumor with Resection as well as many other topics of interest at the 1941 Annual Meeting.

It is evident from the letters and memos from the first few years of the society that the basic philosophy of the group was developed by orthopaedic surgeons who were concerned that their professional organization be both politically active and technically supportive of its members. They formed the Buckeye Orthopaedic Club to that end and in turn established the integrity and strength of the Society.

When the group was founded, Harlan Wilson suggested calling the group a "Club" in order to avoid the appearance of competition with the OSMA. However, the club’s activities invoked not only social events, but scientific programs and political issues as well, and the group was deservedly in need of recognition as the professional organization. By 1947, the group decided to change its name to the Ohio Orthopaedic Society, and to hold its meetings at the home city of the President, independently of the Ohio State Medical Association. They also decided that they should expand membership to take in all the doctors in Ohio who were certified by the American Board or were members of the Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

The 1950’s were years of increased membership and participation in governmental affairs. A Membership Committee was formed in 1950 to review the growing number of applications. The Society grew from 57 members in 1950 to 94 by the mid 1950’s.

The Orthopaedic Liaison Committee was formed in the late 1950’s after a decade of battles with Ohio Indemnity Insurance Incorporated (Blue Shield) to establish a program of prepaid full coverage for surgical and medical benefits, the Ohio Industrial Commission on its fee schedule, and the Department of Public Welfare on authorization of emergency medical treatment for patients under state care. Additionally, the Society was actively supporting physical therapists in their efforts to become licensed through legislative action. Needless to say, the officers of the Society were becoming more aware of the need to Delegate responsibly among the membership.

Unfortunately, attendance at the annual meetings became a problem at this time. By 1962 the officers were devising creative ways to attract members to attend the meeting. Jack Millis, the Secretary/Treasurer at the time, suggested that they advertise in the OSMA newsletter for the annual meeting. A suggestion was made to "Remember the Little Women" by planning an interesting wives’ program and therefore creating a little more leverage for the Doctors to attend.

New issues continued to evolve throughout the 60’s, keeping the Society busy. A move to re-classify hospitals for crippled children’s work met with considerable disapproval from the Society. The proposal required hospitals to have a residency in pediatrics. The physiatrists’ and podiatrists’ interests for professional advancement were becoming important issues for the Liaison committee, which was attempting to stay ahead of their efforts. The Orthopaedists were also pushing for compulsory automobile liability insurance, in an attempt to have coverage for vehicular accident patients. Despite opposition from the insurance industry and individuals who felt that this would be an infringement on their rights, in 1965, "Financial Responsibility" became law requiring anyone registering an automobile to prove they have the financial means to respond in damages to liability.

Up until the mid 1970’s the number and types of issues of interest to the Society were many and varied. At this time, one issue preoccupied the Society and the whole medical profession and has only become more complex and problematic over the last decade and a half – Medical Malpractice. A letter from John Roberts, President in 1976, went to the membership encouraging their financial support for the OSMA Malpractice Research Fund. As Dr. Roberts so aptly put it, "Access to data is critical in our fight against the liability problem and the only way to get it is for the OSMA to go after it." Two members were concurrently being sued by a patient. They in turn filed a complaint against the former patient alleging negligent and/or reckless pursuit of a malpractice action. Counter suits were being encouraged by the society in order to cut down on the incidents of unjustified malpractice claims.

This piece of history is fresh enough to know that this would only be the beginning of the malpractice issue. In the Winter Newsletter of 1979, Dr. Robert Heidt summed up the hoped which the Society held for the eighties: "May the eighties be kind to us all and deliver us from all evils of organized medicine and lead us to the peace and tranquility of freedom to care for our patients and give them, as always, the best Orthopaedics in the world today."

We met the challenges of the eighties with better organization and incurred participation in the political arena. This was necessary in the face of peer reviews, proposals for mandatory Medicare assignment, workers’ compensation legislation and, as always, malpractice battles. With the growth of the society, we also updated our methods of organization in order to meet the needs of our members.

In October, 1982, the Ohio Orthopaedic Society accepted an official emblem to represent the professional organization. Dr. Gerald W. Sutherland designed the seal. The circular shape represents unity, within with is the outline of the State of Ohio. The world famous Orthopaedic Tree rests in the center. The Tree symbol was originated in 1749 in the frontispiece of Andry’s Book on Orthopaedics. The seal represents the goals of orthopaedic medicine and the professionalism of the Ohio Orthopaedic Society.

More focus was put on Annual Meetings and members responded with their record-breaking attendance in 1989. The OOS also updated its political agenda with the addition of the Ohio Orthopaedic Political Action Committee in 1988. OrthoPAC was organized because of the increasing challence from well-organized, non-medical practitioners who wanted to see their scope of practice widened by the Ohio Legislature.

The Ohio Orthopaedic Society celebrated "50 Years of Excellence" in 1989. The founders of the Buckeye Orthopaedic Club set a precedent for excellence, which has been upheld throughout the past fifty years and beyond.

The 1990’s brought new challenges, not only for orthopaedists, but also for all of organized medicine. Health care reform was on the agenda of government regulators as well as third-party payers. The Ohio Orthopaedic Society worked closely with the Ohio State Medical Association and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons to make sure that the quality of care for patients was not compromised during this period.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing orthopaedists today is to re-establish the doctor-patient relationship. Patients have begun to realize that insurance companies’ emphasis on making money does not necessarily coincide with sound medical decisions. The Ohio Orthopaedic Society will continue its long-standing tradition of advocating patient’s rights and will be in the forefront of efforts to bring balance and equality back to our health care system.