Bethesda Inc. will salute Dr. Robert Collins for his extraordinary accomplishments in Medicine during the 2017 Men of Honor, A Salute to African American Men taking place on Saturday, November 18 at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati.
Collins was born in Washington, D.C., where his mother was a secretary for the Pentagon and his father was a carpenter and a minister. He says he grew up in the best of all worlds and the worst of all worlds. In the nation’s capital, he experienced the richness of an open and free society filled with dignitaries, but in the summers when he and his brother went to work on his grandfather’s tobacco farm in rural Maryland, he felt the effects of Jim Crow.
He graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy and then the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed his residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Columbia University in New York where he was a research fellow in Cardiovascular Surgery and received a fellowship in vascular surgery and transplantation.
Dr. Collins returned to Cincinnati and began his medical career at Bethesda Oak Hospital where he practiced solo for 14 years before joining a group practice, Queen City General and Vascular Surgeons Group. He later became the executive medical director at Bethesda North Hospital and soon thereafter left private practice. In 2008, he was promoted to vice president of Medical Affairs at Bethesda North Hospital and in 2012, took on system wide responsibilities in this role. In 2014, he became the chief medical officer and senior vice president of Quality for TriHealth.
Since coming to Cincinnati, Collins has volunteered at the West End Clinic and in nursing homes around the city. He has also served as a board member for several organizations, including McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital, Neighborhood Health Care Centers, and Health Care Access Now. He also serves with Bethesda Inc. and has been involved in making a number of significant grants benefiting the Greater Cincinnati community.
In his free time, he enjoys working on his farm in Kentucky, woodworking, and writing poetry. He is married to Deborah and they have one daughter and two grandchildren.
For more information about Men of Honor, A Salute to African American Men, visit theabercrumbiegroup.com/menofhonor or call 513.733.1555.