Mentioned in the 1950-04-27-04 Minutes of the Pima County Medical Society, 1904-1954. (As in “Hess Report.” See “The Hess Report and What It Means” [editorial] Calif Med. 1950 August; 73(2): 192–193.)
JAMA, Apr 1961; 176: 235: Hess, Elmer; Erie, Pa., President of the American Medical Association 1955-1956, died in St. Vincent's Hospital March 29, aged 71, of cancer of the lung. Dr. Hess was born in Millville, N.J., May 31, 1889. Following his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, in 1911, he served as a physician in the Indian Service of the United States for one year. He then entered private practice in Erie in 1912. From 1917 to 1919 he served in the United States Army Medical Corps with the 15th Field Artillery, Second Division. American Expeditionary Forces, receiving the Croix de Guerre, the Verdun Medal, the Chateau Thierry Medal, three Silver Star citations, and the Victory Medal with five clasps. In 1919 he returned to civil life and took graduate courses in Europe and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1920 he began specializing in urology. He was chief of the urology department at St. Vincent's Hospital, where since 1941 he was chief of staff, and Hamot Hospital, Erie, and consulting urologist at the Erie Infants' Hospital, Erie County Tuberculosis Hospital, Corry (Pa.) Memorial Hospital, Meadville (Pa.) City Hospital, Veterans Administration Hospital, Erie, and Warren (Pa.) State Hospital. He was fellow of the American College of Surgeons, International Academy of Medicine, and International College of Surgeons. ... He had long been active in the affairs of the American Medical Association, serving as chairman of the Committee on Extension of Hospitals and Other Facilities from July, 1949, to December, 1952. Dr. Hess served as a member of the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association from 1946 to 1954, and as a member of its Council on Medical Service from 1947, becoming vice-chairman of the Council in 1948 and chairman from 1952 to 1954. He was appointed chairman of the National Advisory Committee to Selective Service and the Health Resources Advisory Committee to the Office of Defense Mobilization. Dr. Hess' first committee appointment was made by President Eisenhower. This committee advised selective service on the induction of medical and dental officers into the armed services. He made several missions for the government, one to Korea for the Army and was on a tour of medical installations for the Air Force. He had been a member of the AMA Liaison Committee to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In the Saturday Evening Post, March 10, 1956, a feature article, "The Doctor Who Sticks His Neck Out," indicated that Dr. Hess "opposes 'Government interference in our job of taking care of the sick,' but favors better, tax-supported mental hospitals and 'hospital annexes' for the chronically ill. He is against airing Medicine's dirty linen in public, but tells doctors they should accept criticism with better grace. He is for throwing medical income-tax chiselers out of the profession. From time to time," the article points out, "he is called to say something about the 'Hess Report,' a sort of medical counterpart of the Yalta agreement that no one is clear on to this day. Actually a whole series of reports from 1948 to 1951, it is the pivotal point in a controversy between some doctors and some hospitals about who may ethically and legally collect fees for anesthetics, laboratory tests, X-rays, and so on." ... [photo caption: Elmer Hess, M.D., 1889-1961]
JAMA, Apr 1961; 176: 235: Hess, Elmer; Erie, Pa., President of the American Medical Association 1955-1956, died in St. Vincent's Hospital March 29, aged 71, of cancer of the lung. Dr. Hess was born in Millville, N.J., May 31, 1889. Following his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, in 1911, he served as a physician in the Indian Service of the United States for one year. He then entered private practice in Erie in 1912. From 1917 to 1919 he served in the United States Army Medical Corps with the 15th Field Artillery, Second Division. American Expeditionary Forces, receiving the Croix de Guerre, the Verdun Medal, the Chateau Thierry Medal, three Silver Star citations, and the Victory Medal with five clasps. In 1919 he returned to civil life and took graduate courses in Europe and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1920 he began specializing in urology. He was chief of the urology department at St. Vincent's Hospital, where since 1941 he was chief of staff, and Hamot Hospital, Erie, and consulting urologist at the Erie Infants' Hospital, Erie County Tuberculosis Hospital, Corry (Pa.) Memorial Hospital, Meadville (Pa.) City Hospital, Veterans Administration Hospital, Erie, and Warren (Pa.) State Hospital. He was fellow of the American College of Surgeons, International Academy of Medicine, and International College of Surgeons. ... He had long been active in the affairs of the American Medical Association, serving as chairman of the Committee on Extension of Hospitals and Other Facilities from July, 1949, to December, 1952. Dr. Hess served as a member of the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association from 1946 to 1954, and as a member of its Council on Medical Service from 1947, becoming vice-chairman of the Council in 1948 and chairman from 1952 to 1954. He was appointed chairman of the National Advisory Committee to Selective Service and the Health Resources Advisory Committee to the Office of Defense Mobilization. Dr. Hess' first committee appointment was made by President Eisenhower. This committee advised selective service on the induction of medical and dental officers into the armed services. He made several missions for the government, one to Korea for the Army and was on a tour of medical installations for the Air Force. He had been a member of the AMA Liaison Committee to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In the Saturday Evening Post, March 10, 1956, a feature article, "The Doctor Who Sticks His Neck Out," indicated that Dr. Hess "opposes 'Government interference in our job of taking care of the sick,' but favors better, tax-supported mental hospitals and 'hospital annexes' for the chronically ill. He is against airing Medicine's dirty linen in public, but tells doctors they should accept criticism with better grace. He is for throwing medical income-tax chiselers out of the profession. From time to time," the article points out, "he is called to say something about the 'Hess Report,' a sort of medical counterpart of the Yalta agreement that no one is clear on to this day. Actually a whole series of reports from 1948 to 1951, it is the pivotal point in a controversy between some doctors and some hospitals about who may ethically and legally collect fees for anesthetics, laboratory tests, X-rays, and so on." ... [photo caption: Elmer Hess, M.D., 1889-1961]
Master pnID
AMH-PN1604
Src2 PCMSMin
PCMS-Min
PCMS pnID
pn0437
Residence(s)
Erie PA