Longtime Oxford pediatrician, hospital leader retires

When Dr. Ellen Buerk opened her pediatric medical practice here in 1977, she was one of only two female doctors with practices in Butler County.

Now retiring after nearly 40 years, Buerk has left a mark not only on Oxford, but throughout the country because of her work promoting legislation to screen for deafness at birth.

“Being able to live in Oxford and practice here was very special,” she said during a retirement celebration held Jan. 8 in her honor.

Educated in Eaton Community Schools in Preble County, Buerk graduated from Miami University cum laude and then the Ohio State University College of Medicine. She met her husband, the late Dr. Gerald Buerk, while attending Miami University and the two.

“My husband had been in college here in Oxford and wanted to read The Oxford Press on the front porch. The ability to walk Uptown and combine seamlessly with work were important,” she said.

Her early years also included working at a clinic in Hamilton, as well as some work in Preble County. She was a skilled teacher, serving as a voluntary professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati for residents at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and an adjunct professor at Miami’s School of Education for advice on early childhood education and a clinical assistant professor of family practice.

Buerk opened her pediatric practice in 1977 and it has grown to include an office in Ross Twp. She served on the McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital board of trustees from 1993-2002; was chairman of the board of directors from 1999-2001; and was chief of staff at the hospital from 1979-1980.

“I took care of most of the people in town. I’ve been very lucky,” she said.

Her practice has also been involved in a national program of well-child testing, which including drafting original standards of testing in office settings.

Buerk has also been active in promoting legislation to screen for deafness at birth. Such a program was put in place at McCullough-Hyde and success there was used to promote it statewide with parents speaking to legislators.

The screening, she said, allows for parents to take steps to compensate for the hearing loss in infants since research shows the first two years of life are critical.

That was only one success given state or national recognition out of the Oxford hospital, she said.

“We’re little. They thought little could not do it. We got it passed in six months in the early 2000s,” she said. “Small and mighty does the job. Little can do it better, sometimes.”

Buerk has watched McCullough-Hyde grow during her time in Oxford. In those early years, the hospital did not have 24-hour emergency room. There was no local ambulance service, which meant the fire department’s life squad vehicle had to transport patients to Cincinnati hospitals with the local doctors riding along, she said.

“I can’t tell how appreciative I am about the hospital,” Buerk said. The goal was to make the hospital the best possible quality. It is totally unique, totally successful.”

She also pioneered the Reach Out and Read program, which provides books for young patients to encourage the habit of reading.

Looking ahead to her retirement, she has no specific plans but figures she will follow in the footsteps of others who have retired professionally but still find ways to work.

“I like the creativity of working. Each of us does what we are passionate about. It is important to us that we do it,” she said.

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