UH Interventional Radiologist Brings Hard-working Energy to UH Patients

UH Clinical Update | October 2024

When you’ve wanted something since junior high, you’ll go the extra mile to get it.

Steven Reed, MD

Even as an undergrad at Ohio State, Steven Reed, MD, was impatient to get started building a medical career. He worked nights and weekends as a surgical assistant on a local hospital’s total joint replacement team, with the goal of ultimately becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. But he also worked in the radiology department in between college classes – a decision that would loom large later.

“It was really fascinating,” Dr. Reed recalls. “The technology was amazing. It was just a super-interesting way to see the body and diagnose disease.”

Medical school at NEOMED only heightened his interest.

“They gave us four quarters in the first year of medical school studying radiology,” he says. “A lot of schools you don't get exposure to until later.”

That’s in fact where he was introduced to what would later become his specialty – interventional radiology.

“I didn't even know it existed,” he says. “But from the first year of medical school on, I knew that radiology was where I was at and that I really enjoyed the interventional aspect. Anytime I had a break, I would hang out with the radiologists and just see everything I could see and do what I could do -- if they would let me.”

Residency training in diagnostic radiology at MetroHealth Medical Center solidified Dr. Reed’s plans. Fellowship training in vascular and interventional radiology, as well as neuroradiology/neurointerventional, soon followed.

Now, after several years practicing at both MetroHealth and a hospital in Cincinnati, Dr. Reed is bringing his considerable energy and expertise to UH. He works most days at UH Portage Medical Center but sees patients at UH Geauga one day a week. He also serves UH Geauga as division chief of radiology.

UH Geauga Chief Medical Officer Marlea Miano, MD, credits Dr. Reed’s work ethic and willingness to always put the patient first – even when it’s not convenient. Staffing challenges are sometimes still an issue, she says, but Dr. Reed always comes through when he is needed.

“Dr. Reed has gone above and beyond for UH Geauga patients and the hospital many times over the past 3+ years that I have worked with him, but even more so over the past three to six months,” Dr. Miano says. “For about a week, to cover for a colleague taking well-deserved time off, Dr Reed would routinely come over to UH Geauga after working a full day at UH Portage to perform necessary procedures on inpatients. This assisted in maintaining flow and throughput, as well as prevented transfers. He was not even the on-call Interventional Radiology physician during this time. This is service excellence in action!”

UH CEO Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, recently recognized Dr. Reed for this patients-first approach to care with a “Dinner with the Doc” honor.

Dr. Reed says his administrative role as division chief helps him serve as a liaison to the different departments of the hospital, promoting coordinated care. But what he he truly relishes, he says, is his clinical role with patients.

He takes very seriously the fear and anxieties patients may feel as they approach an interventional radiology procedure – heightened by the fact that they’re perhaps meeting him for the first time.

“Often they’re coming to see us for a diagnosis of something that is devastating, and it's already been life-changing,” Dr. Reed says. “I try to keep that in perspective -- that they're literally just meeting me and giving me all that trust. You don't have a long time to build trust, so it's your first interaction, from the second you smile at them and say, ‘good morning.’ We must work hard to make sure, no matter what else is happening, that that patient's at the center of our attention and we treat them like we'd want to be treated. The approach always must be pure compassion and kindness.”

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