The practice was started in 1908 in Glendale, Ohio by Bob Allen, M.D.
There were several other general practitioners in Glendale, but most of Glendale’s loyal citizens enjoyed seeing Dr. Bob in the office behind his house.

Dr. Gaston B Hanna joined the practice in 1934 and he was subsiquently joined by Larry Fasoldt, M.D., a friend of Dr. Hannah’s from their undergraduate days at Centre College.

Their hospital practice was confined to Holmes Hospital and Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, where they had taken post graduate education following medical school, and Mercy Hospital in Hamilton. They also delivered babies at Maple Knoll Hospital in Springdale, a home for unwed mothers that also took private patients until 1996.

Dr. Allen retired from practice in 1938, but had to return in 1942 when Dr. Fasoldt was called into service in World War II. After the war, Dr. Fasoldt returned to Glendale and Dr. Allen could retire again.

Dr. Allen, Hanna and Dr. Fasoldt had a very active practice that was cut short by Dr. Fasoldt’s early death in 1958. Dr. Hannah found another partner, Dr. Chuck Patterson, M.D. who joined him for one year before starting a solo practice in Springdale.

Dr. Thomas Todd, M.D. joined Dr. Hannah in 1962. This was a good fit. Dr. Gene Thompson, M.D. entered the practice in 1968, prior to Dr. Hannah’s retirement in 1970. Dr. Thompson left the practice in 1972 to join an insurance company in Illinois.

Dr. Todd worked solo until one of the pharmaceutical representatives, who called on the practice, sent his son, Dr. Barry Webb M.D. to join Glendale Family Medicine in 1977. General Practice had become the specialty of Family Medicine in 1969 and Dr. Webb fulfilled this requirement in Baltimore, Maryland.

The practice site, which was in Dr. Hannah’s house, was enlarged and with Dr. Webb’s excellent work ethics became very busy. In just a few years we needed more room.

We found an empty Sohio Gas Station lot west of our office that was in Springdale. We built a larger office and moved in December of 1984. Springdale would not give us a building permit unless we changed our name to Springdale Family Medicine which we did.

Our hospital direction changed in 1970 when Bethesda Hospital built its satellite hospital in Montgomery. This was 12 miles from our office. In 1977 Mercy Hospital built its satellite hospital in Fairfield just seven miles from our location. Both of these additions made our hospital practice closer than driving into Cincinnati or Hamilton.

We became busier and Douglas Hancher, M.D. joined us in 1989 and Dr. Todd’s son, Dr. Michael Todd M.D. joined in 1996. To make room for these additional physicians we enlarged the office. We took many medical students from the University of Cincinnati Medical School for one month rotations to expose them to Family Medicine. Many of them did enter Family Medicine residencies.

In 2003 Dr. Thomas Todd retired after 41 years and Dr. Kristine Roberts, M.D. entered the practice. She was there for two years before moving to Louisville where her husband was starting a new job.

With one less doctor the practice pace picked up for those doctors left. Fortunately within a year Dr. Hancher’s wife Dr. Erin Davlin, M.D., after working somewhere else for 20 years, was able to come to Springdale Family Medicine part time to ease the burden. Dr. Erin Fries, M.D. joined the practice in 2009 to bring Springdale Medicine up to its full complement.

After 103 years, Springdale Medicine is still going strong!

(Written by Dr. Thomas Todd, 2013)