The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Case Western Reserve University is among the oldest in the country. The importance of Orthopaedics as a special branch of surgery was first recognized in our medical center in 1907, when a room on the third floor of the old Lakeside Hospital was equipped and set aside for orthopaedic cases under the supervision of the Surgeon-in-Chief, Dudley P. Allen. During the same year, Rainbow Home (later to become Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital) became affiliated with Lakeside Hospital to provide professional supervision of the crippled children in that institution. An orthopaedist, Dr. Henry O. Feiss, was assigned to supervise this work in 1910, with Dr. Gordon N. Morrill taking over the role the following year until 1919. Dr. George I. Bauman directed the orthopaedic division until 1924. During his tenure, full-time positions in the hospital and medical school staffs were established for those individuals who were most responsible for the development of the Department of Orthopaedics, and for the teaching of medical students. The first orthopaedic resident was appointed in 1922.
Dr. Maxwell Harbin was placed in charge of the newly formed Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Lakeside Hospital, Rainbow Hospital and the medical school in 1924, a position he held until his retirement in 1953. It was not until 1934, nearly 27 years after the organization of the orthopaedic specialty at Case Western Reserve University, that the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery was incorporated.
Upon the retirement of Dr. Harbin in 1953, Dr. Charles H. Herndon became head of the Department of Orthopaedics. Dr. Herndon, an internationally prominent orthopaedic surgeon, built the Department of Orthopaedics into one of the top departments in the United States. Among other positions of leadership in the orthopaedic profession, Dr. Herndon went on to serve as president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. In 1982, Dr. Herndon retired and Dr. Kingsbury G. Heiple became chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics. Dr. Heiple, also internationally prominent in the field of orthopaedics, served as president of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and an editor of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. In 1988, Dr. Heiple retired as chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and Dr. Victor M. Goldberg was appointed to the chairmanship.
Under Dr. Goldberg’s direction, the department achieved the distinction of being ranked #1 in NIH grant funding for orthopaedics in the country. He is an internationally known expert in the field of joint replacement and serves on the editorial boards of several publications, including the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and the Journal of Arthroplasty. Dr. Goldberg is a past-president of the Orthopaedic Research Society and of The Knee Society. He retired from the Chairmanship in 2002; he continues his career as a professor in the department and remains active in the national academic orthopaedic community.
In 2003 Dr. Randall E. Marcus was named Charles H. Herndon Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics. Dr. Marcus specializes in reconstruction and traumatic problems of the lower extremities. He has published 50 papers, edited 2 books and presented, by invitation, 187 lectures in the field of orthopaedic surgery. In addition, he serves as a Director of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (President-Elect, 2006-2007), and has an international reputation for his work in the design of fracture fixation devices.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Case Western Reserve University boasts a long history of dedicated leaders and long-tenured chairmen. The stability and longevity of this program have contributed to the notable success of the hundreds of residents who have trained here.