a legacy of innovation
Innovation has always played an important defining role in the history of the Kettering Health Network. Here are a few of the medical innovations and achievements that have helped to advance medicine for patients, and the world.
winter 1966 - First open heart surgery performed at Charles F. Kettering Memorial Hospital (10,000th performed on Feb. 14, 1989, at Kettering Medical Center).
december 1975 - First nuclear pacemaker implanted in Dayton region, at Kettering Medical Center (KMC).
may 1976 - Charles F. Kettering Memorial Hospital becomes first hospital in the region with a whole-body computerized axial tomography (CAT) scanner.
may 1985 - KMC and Wright State University School of Medicine bring a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to Kettering, the region's first.
july 1987 - A new Pelorus Stereotactic system enhances Kettering's ability to treat brain disorders.
november 1989 - KMC is the first in southwest Ohio to introduce the positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. Groundbreaking set for 1990.
april 1993 - Opened the most advanced radiation oncology department in the region with two state-of-the-art dual-energy linear accelerators.
november 1994 - KMC becomes one of only two clinical sites in the U.S. to combine PET images and the Viewing Wand, giving surgeons a more accurate picture of the brain.
december 1994 - Charles F. Kettering Memorial Hospital opens Dayton's first X-Knife™ Radiotherapy unit. X-Knife is a non-invasive, state-of-the-art radiosurgery system for treatment of brain tumors.
november 1995 - The Wallace-Kettering Neuroscience Institute (WKNI) formed as the first center of excellence at KMC to advance innovation in neurosciences.
october 1997 - KMC establishes the Office of Research.
november 1997 - WKNI opens the first comprehensive Epilepsy Center in the region.
february 1998 - WKNI enters a $4.9 million cooperative research and development agreement with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
march 1998 - KMC opened the region's first dedicated cardiac electrophysiology lab.
june 1999 - WKNI becomes the only facility in the Dayton-Cincinnati area to use the Gamma Knife™ to treat brain lesions.
january 2000 - KMC installs the first multi-slice volume zoom CT scanner in Dayton.
june 2000 - KMC's Nuclear Medicine Department performs the first choline PET scan in the U.S.
february 2005 - WKNI surgeons become the first in the region to implant an artifcial spinal disc.
january 2006 - KMC becomes the first hospital in the Dayton region to use a daVinci S robotic surgical system, which lessens blood loss, pain, recovery time and risk of infection in prostate, kidney, bladder and cardiac procedures.
august 2006 - Kettering College of Medical Arts opens the $22 million Boonshoft Center for Medical Sciences, which includes WKNI's new home.
january 2007 - Grandview and Sycamore Hospitals are recognized as the first ever Primary Stroke Center of Excellence by the Health Care Facilities Accreditation Program.
april 2008 - KMC is the first southwest Ohio hospital to have a PET/CT 64-slice scanner with time of flight technology to quickly evaluate medical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.
summer 2008 - The KMC Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center is one of only 18 such programs in the nation to be accredited by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society.
summer 2008 - Greene Health Partners becomes the second hospital in Ohio to offer Breast Specifc Gamma Imaging.
fall 2008 - Southview Medical Center opens the region's first Hand Center of Excellence.
january 2009 - The Kettering Health Network Innovation Center and Siemens Medical Solutions installs an MRI scanner fully dedicated to research, a first for the Dayton area.
