
The Early Years
1850–1956
Founded in 1817, the University of Michigan established various health sciences schools and colleges during its first century, including the Medical School, School of Dentistry, College of Pharmacy, and the roots of the School of Public Health and School of Nursing. In 1869, U-M became the first U.S. university to own and operate its own hospital, and was one of the first major medical schools to teach science-based medicine. Near the end of the 19th Century, research started to become central to the university’s mission, and U-M continues that tradition of excellence to this day.
U-M establishes the Department of Physical Culture and Hygiene (predecessor of the School of Kinesiology).
U-M adopts a policy, soon adopted by many other medical schools, to subscribe to every major medical journal in the world.
Thomas Henry Simpson Memorial Institute for Medical Research is established at U-M.
Fred J. Hodges joins the Medical School as head of roentgenology (radiology). Hodges will pioneer the idea of routine chest x-rays as part of hospital admission, a practice that becomes nearly standard everywhere and is credited with helping detect tuberculosis, heart trouble, and lung cancer.
The Hollerith punch card system is implemented at University Hospital, recording patient statistical information about diagnosis, treatment, and condition at discharge to facilitate research on various diseases, particularly cancer.
The Human Heredity Clinic is established to collect data and provide genetic counseling regarding hereditary disease, one of the first human genetics programs in the country connected to a university hospital.
The National Sanitation Foundation (now NSF International) is founded at SPH as an independent, not-for-profit organization to set standards for the food-service industry.
The Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Hospital is dedicated.
Walter McNerney, a professor of Hospital Administration in the School of Business, directs an unprecedented study of costs, reimbursement, utilization, and hospital economics in the state of Michigan, commissioned by the governor. McNerney went on to help design the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and oversaw the merger of Blue Cross and Blue Shield in the late 1970s.
The Multi-Organ Transplant Program, the first transplant center in Michigan, is established at U-M.
The Towsley Center for Continuing Medical Education opens.
Hospital Economics, as well as “The Economic Effects of National Health Insurance,” are published by Sylvester Berki.
Quantitative Techniques for Hospital Planning and Control is published by J.R. Griffith, a professor of Health Management and Policy and Medical Administration.
The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients is established through a contract to Arbor Research by HRSA (AHRQ’s predecessor). The SRTR is an ever expanding national database of transplant statistics that supports ongoing evaluation of the scientific and clinical status of solid organ transplantation.
The Geriatric Research and Training Center is established at U-M, the first in the U.S., through a grant from the National Institute on Aging.
The U.S. National Nursing Home Resident Assessment Instrument (V 1.0 and 2.0) is implemented.
The Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) is established by Arbor Research. Now conducted in more than 20 countries, the DOPPS family of studies has illuminated the effects of dialysis practices on a wide range of patient outcomes.
The CHEAR Unit receives initial funding from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development for an HSR Fellowship program.
CHEAR Unit total extramural funding reaches $30M.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology forms the Michigan Congenital Heart Outcomes Research and Discovery (M-CHORD) Program.
Origination of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health – In 2007, Matt Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., and his team in the CHEAR Unit began the National Poll on Children’s Health as a way to bring the public voice into the national dialogue about child health and health policy in the United States.
CHEAR Unit hosts the 1st Annual Meister Lecture in Child Health Policy.
CHEAR Unit establishes the National Poll on Children’s Health and publishes 1st report.
The Pediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Center is launched and collaborates with CHEAR to evaluate program outcomes.
CHEAR faculty (Woolford) selected to Co-Chair the Healthy Kids Healthy Michigan Health Policy Action Team, a state wide coalition of 120 organizations dedicated to reducing childhood obesity in Michigan through strategic policy initiatives.
Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology participates in the creation of ImproveCareNow – an inflammatory bowel disease quality improvement network.
Division of Pediatric Cardiology and MICHR awarded NICHD/NCRR funding to form multicenter Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4)
Division of Hospital Medicine’s UMHS Child Protection Team begins collaborations with Munson Medical Center and Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center in creating a Telemedicine Program for victims of suspected child maltreatment.
CHEAR Unit receives funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and establishes the Q-METRIC Consortium to test, evaluate and advance Pediatric Quality Measures.
Clinical Database to Support Comparative Effectiveness Studies of Complex Patients, 2005-2010 -AHRQ grant is awarded to College of Pharmacy investigators.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology’s PC4 collaborates with CardioAccess, Inc and ArborMetrix, Inc. to create PC4 registry.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology receives funding award (Pasquali NHLBI K08 transfers to UM – Case Ascertainment and Outcomes Assessment in Administrative vs. Clinical Data for Children Undergoing Heart Surgery)
The CHEAR Program in Pediatric Unscheduled Healthcare Delivery is launched.
Surveillance system is developed by the Healthy Kids Healthy Michigan Health Policy Action Team for use in the Michigan Care Improvement Registry to monitor body mass index received approval for use.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology works with the Michigan Department of Community Health as participants of the newly founded Critical Congenital Heart Disease Advisory Committee.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology works with the Michigan Department of Community Health to create the Michigan Alliance for Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young (MAP-SCDY).
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology participates with the Michigan Department of Community Health in establishing protocols and educational documents for screening of newborns in Michigan.
“Decision Support for Parents Receiving Genetic Information about Child’s Rare Disease” – PCORI grant awarded to David Sandberg, Ph.D., et al
CHEAR awarded funding from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development to study size-appropriate child passenger restraint use.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology begins data submission to PC4 registry.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology receives NHLBI funding (U10HL068270) to support formation of Pediatric Heart Network Health Services and Outcomes Collaboratory.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology establishes a Project ADAM program at the University of Michigan.
The Division of Pediatric Genomic Medicine and Division of Child Behavioral Health receive funding from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to develop, implement and evaluate a decision support tool for genetic testing in children with Disorders of Sex Development.
The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology is awarded funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Michigan to study the epidemiology of Fistula’s in Crohn’s disease.
The CDC’s Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance project tracks the national burden of chronic kidney disease and the epidemiology of risk factors associated with CKD. In 2014, the CKD surveillance steering committee endorsed the proposal to expand the perspective of risk factors from onset in childhood that influences the incidence of CKD in childhood and in adulthood.
U-M KECC is awarded a five-year federal contract, with a sub-contract to Arbor Research collaborators, to serve as the coordinating center for the United States Renal Data System.
The impact of low blood pressure (hypotension) in the intensive care unit setting has long been understood. In 2014, a UMHS wide analysis of chidren admitted to the pediatric critical unit identified a link between high blood pressure (hypertension) and longer hospitalizations, acute kidney injury and increased risk of mortality. Citation: Ehrmann BJ, Selewski DT, Troost JP, Heiber SM, Gipson DS. Hypertension and Health Outcomes in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2014 Jun;15(5):417-27. PMID: 24717906
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology is awarded funding (Gaies NHLBI K08) for “Explaining Variation in Mortality after Pediatric Cardiac Surgery” using PC4 infrastructure.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology is awarded funding (Pasquali NHLBI R01) for Understanding Quality and Costs in Congenital Heart Surgery, which will support ongoing collaboration between UM and national partners from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Children’s Hospital Association.
The Division of Hospital Medicine and the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center establishes a contract with two Munson HealthCare SANEs (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) to conduct telemedicine abuse evaluations under the direction of Dr. Bethany Mohr, CPT Medical Director. Provision of Child Abuse training to SANEs. Provision of space for exams by Munson HealthCare.
The Department of Pediatrics and the Divisions of Pediatric Cardiology and Neonatology implement reporting of results of newborn critical congenital heart disease screening from U-M and support of the process for other birthing centers in the state.
The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology participates in the creation of a collaborative care network focused on quality improvement in Type 1 Diabetes.
The Division of Pediatric Genomic Medicine is awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development to study parental perceptions of Next Generation Sequencing and informed consent in newborns.
The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology is awarded funding from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America to study mobile text messaging for improving symptoms and quality of life for patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
The Divisions of Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Genetics establish a DNA bio-repository for the CDC-NIH sponsored Sudden Death in the Young (SDY) Registry.
CHEAR faculty (Susan Woolford, M.D., M.P.H.) selected to co-lead the new Children’s Hospital /American Academy of Pediatrics Expert Exchange, which brings together pediatric obesity providers from across the country with a goal of improving the delivery of obesity care for children and adolescents.
CHEAR faculty (Woolford), with support from Project Healthy Schools, obtains funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop geo-location triggered system to prompt healthy food choices at the point of sale among African American adolescents in Southwest Michigan.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology works with the Michigan Department of Community Health’s Michigan Alliance for Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young (MAP-SCDY) in establishing a new school award and responding to new legislation about cardiac emergency plans in schools.
The Division of Pediatric Cardiology initiated and completed the project to make Michigan only one of several states with advanced care for children experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest. This work was a major component of the approved state house bill 4713, and was recognized by the national organization “Project Adam”, certifying Michigan as an affiliate state.
CHEAR faculty (Joyce Lee, M.D., M.P.H.) in conjunction with the faculty from the Schools of Art and Design, Public Health, Medicine, and School of Information, holds the inaugural “We #Make Health Fest”. The event promoted patient-centered participatory design in healthcare and the application of the “maker” movement for health.
CHEAR Unit and The Patient and Family-Centered Care program (PFCC) launch the first Patient and Family Research Council. The new initiative aims to better integrate the voices of pediatric patients and families into the development of child health research projects.