“The groundbreaking work in 1946 of…pediatrician Charles V. Pfahler MD, who performed the first blood transfusion in the Cincinnati area to treat newborn babies affected by the Rh factor, signaled Good Samaritan Hospital’s movement into modern medicine.

At that time, Rh blood factor incompatibility between mother and newborn was frequently fatal…and this medical advance alone saved thousands of young lives.”*

Additionally, Dad served as an Army medical doctor during World War II. He landed at Normandy Beach on June 9, 1944 and, six months later, took part in the Battle of the Bulge as a physician with a field hospital unit just outside of Bastogne.

When Dad got back stateside, in 1946, he started his pediatric practice and cared for over 6000 West-Side families during the next 39 years. A real hero, he devoted his life to his patients and practice.

In 1985, Dad was compelled to give up the practice of medicine due to the onset of blindness. Good Samaritan Hospital honored him with an honorarium that same year; two plaques with his achievements and image are located on the seventh floor.

In November 2002, Dad’s contribution to the medical community was commemorated by milestone markers which appear at the Good Sam Main Lobby and on the fifth floor of the Dixmyth Tower complex.

*Excerpted from the Good Samaritan Hospital 150-year anniversary publication, Good Samaritan Hospital, Continuing Our Tradition of Compassionate Care, 1852-2002, Advancing The Care, page 10 (Privately published, November 2002, Cincinnati).