UC News

University Hospital Name Change FAQs

headshot of Richard Puff By Richard Puff
4 minute read December 10, 2012

University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono, PhD, and UC Health President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Kingsbury this afternoon (Dec. 10, 2012) announced that the name of University Hospital will change to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The following will help to answer questions about the name change.

Q: Does University of Cincinnati Medical Center replace the UC Academic Health Center?
A: No, the UC Academic Health Center remains in place and includes the four health colleges of the university: the College of Medicine, College of Allied Health Sciences, College of Nursing and the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy.

Q: Is the College of Medicine part of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center?
A: No, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center is the new name for what we have known as University Hospital and includes the hospital, the Charles M. Barrett Center for Cancer Research and Treatment, Holmes Hospital, the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center and outpatient clinics in the Hoxworth Center. The University of Cincinnati Medical Center also includes the UC Health Physicians Office-Clifton, located at 222 Piedmont Ave.

Q: Why is this change being made?
A: UC Health is changing the name of University Hospital to University of Cincinnati Medical Center in order to better distinguish it as a national player and reflect its affiliation with the University of Cincinnati. The name change also provides a clear geographic identifier – something that was missing with the name University Hospital. The expectation is that including University of Cincinnati in the hospital’s name will help to elevate its national reputation.

Q: Wasn’t the name University of Cincinnati Medical Center used previously?
A: Yes. From the early 1980s through 1994 the UC Medical Center was comprised of the hospital and the university’s health colleges. Beginning in 1994 it referred to the four health colleges and the Hoxworth Blood Center when the hospital became part of the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. In 2005 the UC Medical Center name was changed to the UC Academic Health Center by then UC Provost for Health Affairs Jane Henney, MD.

The hospital has changed its name several times since it first opened in 1823. The following chronology outlines the hospital’s previous names and when they changed:

1823       Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum
1861       Commercial Hospital
1869       Cincinnati Hospital
1915       Cincinnati General Hospital
1982       University of Cincinnati Hospital
1994       University Hospital

Q: Will the employees of the hospital become University of Cincinnati employees?
A: No, all staff members of the hospital will remain employees of UC Health.

Q: Does University of Cincinnati Medical Center replace UC Health?
A: No, the health system’s name remains UC Health and includes University of Cincinnati Medical Center, University of Cincinnati Physicians, West Chester Hospital, Drake Center, UC Health Surgical Hospital and Lindner Center of HOPE.

Q: Will UC Health be changing its name?
A: No, UC Health, which came into existence three years ago when the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati dissolved, remains the name of the health system.

Q: When will all of University Hospital’s signage change?
A: There is a detailed plan for implementing the name change. The University Hospital name has been in use since 1994 and is therefore pervasive throughout the facility. UC Health will use a phased approach and also work efficiently to keep costs as low as possible while also doing its best to get the new name out as quickly as possible.

University of Cincinnati Medical Center, formerly University Hospital, is the primary teaching hospital for faculty physicians and surgeons at the UC College of Medicine.

University of Cincinnati Medical Center, formerly University Hospital, is the primary teaching hospital for faculty physicians and surgeons at the UC College of Medicine.

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