The Success of Mayo

The Mayo family is the most famous group of physicians in the United States. The Father and two sons of the Mayo family established the world-renowned non-profit Mayo Clinic and the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research in Rochester, Minnesota, which are dedicated to diagnosing and treating almost every known illness. The cooperative group clinic, later known as the Mayo Clinic evolved from the private medical practice of William W. Mayo and the surgical partnership of the two brothers evolved.

William Worrell Mayo was a British-American medical doctor and chemist. He is best known for establishing the private medical practice that later grew into the Mayo Clinic. His sons, William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo established a joint medical practice in Rochester in the U.S. state of Minnesota in the 1880s and from this partnership evolved the cooperative group clinic, later known as the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. William W. Mayo left England for the U.S. in 1846; settling first in Indiana where he graduated from the Indiana Medical College. He caught malaria requiring him to move to Minnesota for a more healthful climate to aid his recovery. He brought his family with him to Le Sueur along the Minnesota River where he became known as the "Little Doctor" due to his rather short, 5-foot-4-inch (1.63 m) stature. After a flood in 1859, he set up his first official medical practice in Le Sueur. As the American Civil War began that same year and the Dakota War erupted in1862, Mayo found his way into military medicine and in 1863 he was finally engaged as a military surgeon for the draft board in Rochester, Minnesota where his family joined him in 1864. Dr. Mayo opened a solo medical practice in Rochester, and by now, the number of patients was large enough to support the family with no need for him to assume additional jobs.

The event that is usually credited with beginning the "Mayo Clinic Story" occurred in 1884, when a tornado devastated Rochester. Since many of the wounded would need intensive care beyond what was being provided by the patient's relatives and friends, Dr. Mayo recruited the local Sisters of St. Francis of Rochester, Minnesota to be nurses. William J Mayo, his first son had just completed medical school, and his second son, Charles H Mayo was in his final year of school, so both were able to assist their father with caring for the tornado’s victims. Mother Alfred Moes of the Sisters of St. Francis was convinced a full-fledged hospital was needed in Rochester and approached Dr. W.W. Mayo to head it. She offered to raise the funds and supervise construction of the hospital. Under her direction, St. Mary’s Hospital was built and opened in 1889. Originally, St Mary's Hospital had 12 beds, the three Mayo doctors as surgeons, and the Sisters of St Francis as staff.

In 1910, W. W. Mayo suffered a serious injury owing to a laboratory experiment; his arm and hand were crushed, necessitating an amputation. Complications resulted in his death in 1911, shortly before his 92nd birthday.

After their father’s death, the work at the hospital was continued by his sons.The clinic began to grow in size in the early 1900s when many young physicians began to apply for positions as interns and assistants. At the same time, outstanding scientists in basic medical subjects were added to the clinic’s training and research programs.

Dr. Henry Stanley Plummer was also invited to join the clinic as a full partner, which - according to Dr. Will (the eldest Mayo son) - was the best decision of his entire life. Dr. Plummer was a great contribution to the flourishing institution. As an internist, after returning from Europe, he started to focus on treating goiter instead of operating all cases. Soon they published their 200 cases in foreign journals and the Mayo’s reputation grew, patients and physicians arrived from outside of the USA as well, to be treated and to study how to treat. It was also Dr. Plummer who introduced unified patient documentation and medical archives, on the basis of which science, research and education could undoubtedly evolve. Soon the well-renowned medical journal, the “Mayo Clinic Proceedings” was issued, and the first ever rheumatologist, Dr. Hench of the Mayo Clinic and his fellow-biochemist Dr. Kendall were awarded the Nobel Prize for inventing cortisone.

In 1919 the Mayo brothers transferred property and capital to the Mayo Properties Association, later to be called the Mayo Foundation, a charitable and educational corporation with a perpetual charter. Around 1900 the Mayo Clinic was changed from a partnership to a voluntary association of physicians and specialists in allied fields. In 1915 the Mayo brothers donated $1.5 million to the University of Minnesota to establish the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research at Rochester in connection with the clinic. The non-profit foundation, which is part of the University of Minnesota Graduate School, offers graduate training in medicine and related subjects.

In 1986 the Mayo Clinic merged with the nearby St. Mary’s Hospital and Rochester Methodist Hospital. The Mayo Foundation also began a national expansion program that year, opening the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in Florida and the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale and Phoenix in Arizona. In 1992 the Mayo Foundation launched the Mayo Health System, a network of clinics, hospitals, and health-care facilities (including nursing homes) serving communities in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

In the early 21st century the Mayo Clinic’s four sites employed more than 3,500 physicians, researchers, and scientists and more than 50,000 allied health staff, treating more than 1 million outpatients annually. There are 1700 beds in St. Mary’s and 680 beds in Methodist’s.