History
Charles E. Holzer, MD, arrived in Gallipolis in 1909, to spend one year at the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics, now the Gallipolis Developmental Center, for intensive surgical experience. Instead, as the only surgeon in the region, he was frequently asked to care for patients other than those at OHE. When his resident year ended, he was urged to stay in the community, which he did.
In 1910, Dr. Holzer converted a house in downtown Gallipolis into the first seven-bed hospital. As the need grew, the original 25-bed wing of the new Holzer Hospital on Cedar Street was completed in 1917, and continued to expand. To ensure that health care excellence at Holzer Hospital would continue, in 1949 he gave the hospital to the community to be governed by the Holzer Hospital Foundation.
Dr. Charles E. Holzer Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps and chose the medical field. In 1946, he returned to Gallipolis following his graduation from Cornell Medical School and a surgical residency at the University of Cincinnati to join his father. At his urging, a medical partnership known as the Holzer Clinic was formed in 1950 with six physicians: Drs. Charles E. Holzer Sr., Charles E. Holzer, Jr., Marcus J. Magnussen, William F. Ashe, Otto A. Vornholt, and Jacob Weinberger. Dr. Holzer Jr. continued his father’s leadership and was named Chief of Staff in 1948 and continued in that role until 1989.
The Holzer legacy continues today with the continued practicing of Dr. Holzer Sr. and Dr. Holzer Jr.’s philosophy, “The Patient is the Center of All We Do.” The legacy has survived for over 100 years, and will continue on well into the future. In 2012, Holzer Clinic and Holzer Health Systems integrated to form one Holzer Health System, sharing one goal, one dream, and truly embodying One Holzer.
Our healthcare system continues to change, evolving to include the latest technology and innovations available and our community will continue to receive the very best healthcare, in their own backyard. Dr. Holzer Sr. didn’t create a healthcare facility in the southeastern Ohio valley, he established an inspiration. An inspiration that will continue well past another 100 years.
