Ginzberg, Eli

Eli Ginzberg (1909–2002) was a writer, scholar, teacher, government consultant, policy analyst, and one of the first health economists in the United States.

Ginzberg was born in and lived most of his life in New York City. He had a very long and well-respected tenure at Columbia University, where he earned his bachelor's (1931), master's (1933), and doctoral (1935) degrees. In 1935, he began his teaching career at Columbia University's faculty in the Graduate School of Business. He would go on to teach at Columbia for more than 60 years. Ginzberg's early years at the university exposed him to experiences that helped prepare him for his interests in public policy and healthcare. During World War II, he helped plan healthcare services for wounded soldiers and discharges for military physicians. In 1943, Ginzberg helped prepare for the 1944 European invasion by U.S. forces by serving as chief logistical advisor to the Surgeon General of the Army. In 1946, he returned to Columbia University and eventually retired from the faculty in 1979, although he continued teaching classes at the university.

Ginzberg served as director of the Eisenhower Center for the Conservation of Human Resources at Columbia University and director for the Revson Fellows Program on the Future of the City of New York. From 1962 through 1981, he served as chair for the National Manpower Advisory Committee. In 1982, Columbia University awarded him an honorary doctorate of letters.

Ginzberg's interests centered on people and the conditions in which they lived and worked. For example, in the 1960s, it was thought that there was a national physician shortage, and efforts and funds were directed toward building new medical schools, upgrading older programs, increasing student enrollments, and providing financial aid opportunities. Ginzberg countered the claim by declaring that the physician shortage was only in low-income and high-poverty areas, and even if the number of physicians in the graduating classes was increased, these socioeconomic areas would continue to be underserved. His solution was to train more paraprofessionals, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants as well as to restructure the manner in which the medical services were delivered to this portion of the population.

Several times throughout his career, he addressed the education and utilization of nurses. Because he thought that hospital training exploited nursing [Page 450]students, he advocated for nursing education to become the responsibility of higher education. To improve the nursing profession's status, Ginzberg recommended that graduate programs include management courses in the curriculum. Addressing the various levels of education found in the nursing profession and the need to improve working conditions and job satisfaction, Ginzberg recommended tying levels of responsibilities to the nurses' education, with the more educated nurses having higher levels of responsibilities.

Acknowledging the U.S. culture of individualism and its socioeconomic structure, he stressed the need for national health insurance to provide essential medical care as well as policies addressing the health sector's shortcomings in the areas of access, costs, and quality of care.

Ginzberg, a prolific writer, was interested in the human experience and human resources. He was one of the first health economists, and his work continues to influence health policymakers.

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