Roemer, Milton I.

Milton I. Roemer (1916–2001) was a pioneer in health services research, a health administrator, and a teacher. Roemer was a scholar in the areas of international health, primary care, rural health, and healthcare organization. He was the first to identify, in the early 1960s, the phenomenon of supplier-induced demand. Specifically, he found that when health insurance is widespread in a community, increased utilization of services results in an increase in the supply of hospital beds, or, in short, a hospital bed built is a bed filled. This finding became known as the Roemer effect or Roemer's law. It would contribute in the 1970s to the enactment of federal certificate-of-need (CON) legislation and comprehensive health planning.

Born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1916, Roemer earned a master's degree in sociology from Cornell University in 1939, a medical degree from New York University in 1940, and a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan in 1943.

In the early 1940s, Roemer was a county health officer for Monongalia County, West Virginia. Later, he was a medical officer for the New Jersey State Health Department. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Public Health Service, where he served as a medical officer for the War Food Administration and the Medical Care Administration of the States Relations Division. In 1951, Roemer began his international work when he was appointed Chief of Social and Occupational Health at the newly formed World Health Organization (WHO). At the WHO, he was responsible for a wide range of services, including hospital administration, occupational health, and the organization of medical care, among others. However, he was forced out of his position when the U.S. government withdrew its approval of his appointment under pressure of McCarthyism. In 1953, Roemer moved to Canada, where he worked for the Saskatchewan Department of Public Health as the Director of Medical and Hospital Services. He eventually returned to the United States and taught at Yale and Cornell universities. In 1962, Roemer joined the faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He taught courses in comparative national health systems, hospital administration, medical care, and public health. And he served as the chairman of the Department of Health Services for 8 years. While at the university, he undertook extensive work in Asia and Latin America. In 1986, Roemer retired from the university and became Professor Emeritus.

During his 60-year career, Roemer conducted a wide range of research projects in international health, and he was a prolific writer. He worked in 71 countries and authored or coauthored 32 books and 430 scholarly articles. One of his best-known publications is National Health Systems of the World, a monumental two-volume comparative analysis of international healthcare systems.

Roemer received many awards and honors in recognition of his work. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM). He received the International Award for Excellence in Promoting and Protecting the Health of People in 1977, the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for distinguished service in public health in 1983, [Page 1046]and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 from the American Public Health Association (APHA). He also received the Joseph W. Mountain award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1992 and the Distinguished Career Award from the Association for Health Services Research in 1997. Roemer died in 2001 at the age of 84.

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