51ĀŅĀ×

In 1975, while Ohio residents were dancing to ā€œThe Hustleā€ and celebrating the Cincinnati Redsā€™ third World Series win, a group of medical professionals, educators and legislators was busy establishing the stateā€™s first osteopathic medical school. Fifty years later, the 51ĀŅĀ× Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is now a powerhouse of primary care innovation and education at the state and national levels.

The legislative spark

The journey began in 1972, when the Ohio Osteopathic Association (OOA) House of Delegates passed a resolution calling for the formation of a committee to study the need for an osteopathic college in Ohio. One early champion for osteopathic education in the state was Ohio Rep. Tom Fries (D-Dayton), who saw an obvious gap in medical education offerings in the state.

ā€œWe had 1,200 osteopathic physicians in Ohio treating 80 percent of the population as family doctors and primary care physicians, and not one of them had been educated here in the state of Ohio,ā€ Fries said in a 2016 Founderā€™s Day celebration speech at the Ohio Statehouse to mark the 40th anniversary of the Heritage College.

At the time, there were six allopathic medical schools in the state and only eight osteopathic schools nationwide. 51ĀŅĀ× was an obvious choice to host a medical school, as medical training had long been part of the universityā€™s plan. An 1823 resolution by the 51ĀŅĀ× Board of Trustees designated land west of the College Green for a future medical college. Bolstered by this knowledge and data showing worsening primary-care shortages in the region, the OOA completed a lobbying campaign that resulted in the 1975 passage of Amended House Bill 229 in the Ohio General Assembly.

After passing the House by an encouraging 90-4 margin, the bill faced surprising resistance in the Ohio Senate. The debate over the bill was the second-longest of that yearā€™s session. Eventually, Sen. Robert Secrest (D-Cambridge) gave a speech in support of the bill, during which he drew a 30 to 40-mile circle around his hometown on a map, saying that if the bill resulted in just two doctors moving into that economically depressed area, it would be worth it. That speech galvanized not only the audience but the senators themselves, who, after defeating several amendments meant to kill the bill, passed it by a 24-6 margin.

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Signing into law

On Aug. 18, 1975, Ohio Gov. James A. Rhodes signed House Bill 229 during a ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse. The bill then became law on Nov. 17, 1975, officially creating what was then known as the 51ĀŅĀ× College of Osteopathic Medicine and providing the school with $670,000 in startup funding.

Though the bill had been made law, college founders still faced hurdles, the most significant being a restrictive deadline stipulation in the amended bill. The late Dr. Charles Ping, who had just stepped in as 51ĀŅĀ× President in 1975, remembered the stressful time.

ā€œSomebody had slipped into the bill language that said, unless students were admitted within one year from the effective date of this bill, there would be no further appropriations,ā€ Ping said in 2015. ā€œI didnā€™t know what was in the bill until I read it. And thatā€™s appalling. It takes seven years, on average, to open a medical school.ā€

The Heritage College had to find classroom space, hire faculty, create a curriculum and recruit students in just 10 months. But the college was successful, and in September 1976, the first class of 24 men and women began medical school. Since that first class entered, the Heritage College has grown and today stands as a leader in Osteopathic education in the state.

ā€œThe signing of Amended House Bill 229 was a truly pivotal momentā€”for 51ĀŅĀ× and for health care in the state of Ohio,ā€ said Ken Johnson, D.O., executive dean of the Heritage College and 51ĀŅĀ× chief medical affairs officer. ā€œIn 50 yearsā€™ time, Ohioā€™s only osteopathic medical school has graduated more than 5,000 physicians, the majority of whom continue to practice in Ohio. Today, as Ohioā€™s largest medical school and the stateā€™s number one producer of primary care physicians, the Heritage College has realizedā€”and far exceededā€”the bold aspirations of the billā€™s original champions.ā€

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