It was the summer before Dr. Arthur Arand started medical school, and he went to a conference at Good Samaritan Hospital. There, he first saw Dr. Frank Mayfield after neurosurgery grand rounds.
“Dr. Mayfield was personable and authoritative, just really impressive,” says Dr. Arand, a west-side native who had just earned his degree in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University. “This was my first experience with neurosurgery. When you decide on medicine as a career, you hope to really help people. I was able to see how immediate and life-changing that help can be.”
Dr. Arand went into neurosurgery, and eventually he joined Dr. Mayfield’s practice. At the end of June, he will retire from Mayfield Brain & Spine, confident that he made the right decision. He says he’s ready for more time on the golf course, traveling with his wife Joann, spending time with family, and volunteer work.
“We all have different roles in life,” he says. “We’re neurosurgeons, fathers, grandfathers and all sorts of things. Because some roles are so demanding, we sometimes emphasize one of those roles for a period of time. But there are other roles to play and other times to do that. So, I think this is that time for me.”
Practicing out of the West Chester office, Dr. Arand has helped lead Mayfield’s growth in the northern reaches of Greater Cincinnati. He chaired Mayfield’s Board of Directors from 2013 to 2018, a period that solidified Mayfield’s position as a strong independent practice with a national reputation. During his tenure as chairman, Mayfield opened standalone patient offices throughout the region, signed agreements with local health systems and added services including physical therapy and interventional pain treatments, along with a host of other changes.
Asked if his career had unfolded as he expected, Dr. Arand laughs.
“Not in 100 years,” he says. “I knew I was going to go into private practice, and while I expected to be a clinician, I didn’t expect to have the leadership and administrative responsibilities that ended up being part of my career.”
Dr. Andrew Ringer, current chairman of Mayfield’s Board of Directors, called Dr. Arand “a steady hand, a valued partner and a good friend.”
“Art helped lay the foundation for further innovation and growth,” he says. “He is intellectually curious, determined and clear-eyed when facing challenges. We wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
Among the largest of those challenges, Dr. Arand says, was the unexpected passing of two Mayfield neurosurgeons and trusted colleagues, Drs. Charles Kuntz and Paul Cohen.
He calls the period when he led Mayfield’s board “a time of change.”
“We had to become more visible in our communities,” he says. “Because of changes in health care, we had to have more formal co-management agreements with our hospitals, recruit additional physicians, add more services for patients and standardize our brand.”
Looking forward, Dr. Arand says Mayfield must continue to balance respect for its history and culture with the steps necessary to thrive in a complex constantly changing health care landscape. Mayfield starts in a strong position, he says, with the capability, expertise and critical mass to thrive.
“I am proud to have been a part of Mayfield,” he says. “Our organization’s doctors, administrators and associates embody our values, and they each contribute through their various roles to fulfilling our mission. Care for our patients will always be the centerpiece of what we do, and I am confident that Mayfield has the personnel and resources to maintain that focus, no matter what challenges we face in the future.”