Innovator in medical field

Built the Davis Clinic which revolutionized medical care in Marion

Joseph Davis, M.D., Marion High School Class of 1935, helped transform medical care in Marion by co-founding the Davis Clinic with his father and brother in 1950. He then went on to found another innovative medical facility in the 1980s: Marion’s Ambucare Clinic.
He was the third generation of his family to practice medicine in Marion, following in the footsteps of his grandfather George, his great-uncle Sam, and his father, Merrill. He graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in 1939 and a doctor of medicine degree in 1942.
He served in the Navy during World War II on the hospital ship the USS Solace, which was involved in caring for wounded Marines and soldiers at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and Dr. Davis received two battle stars for his service.
After the war, he completed his surgical training at Philadelphia General Hospital and the Cleveland and Lahey Clinics. He returned to Marion in 1949, where he joined his father’s practice. His brother, Richard, joined the partnership in 1951 after completing his surgical training at the Mayo Clinic. In 1952, construction of the Davis Clinic building began. It was modeled on the Mayo, Cleveland, and Lahey Clinics. The innovation was to house numerous specialists in one facility for patients’ convenience as well as to provide a stimulating professional environment for the physicians.
The architecture of the building, too, reflected the modern design sensibilities of the Davis family, who had already brought Marion two of its most iconic and distinctive homes, still notable in the city landscape today: “Woodside,” Richard and Elaine’s Frank Lloyd Wright home on Overlook Road, and Merrill and Josephine’s stark geometric Art Deco Rostone home on Euclid Avenue.
In the early 1980s, Dr. Davis would again bring innovation to medical care in Marion, this time in partnership with fellow MHS Hall of Distinction inductee John Earnest. The two founded the Ambucare Clinic, the first walk-in medical clinic in the state, offering urgent care, minor surgical care, and care for occupational injuries. The clinic is still open today, having been purchased by Marion General Hospital in 2013 and renamed MGH Work Solutions.
Dr. Davis founded the Grant County Crippled Children’s Society. He was also past president of the Grant County Medical Society, the Section of Surgery for the Indiana State Medical Association, and the American Association of Medical Clinics. He served on the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons for nine years.
He was a founding member of the board of directors of the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra, and was president of the Hoosier Salon Art Association. He was a longtime leader for various IU alumni groups and was on the Board of Advisors of IU-Kokomo for more than 25 years.
Joseph Davis married Margaret Hooper on June 26, 1956, and they had two children, Chad and Tracy. Chad, a surgeon in Indianapolis, is married to Kim, and has four children, Peter, Ellen, Andy, and Laura. Peter, a surgical resident at the Mayo Clinic, is following in his grandfather’s footsteps. Tracy is married to Bill Lester, and they are active in the Marion community. They have three lovely girls, Meryl, Alex, and Maddie.
Joseph Davis died in 1998 at the age of 81.