Legacy of the Dishwasher King
Sam Regenstrief was a captain of industry with a brilliant mind when it came to increasing manufacturing productivity while lowering costs. After a personal experience with the healthcare industry and experiencing firsthand the inefficiency and inequity too often plaguing healthcare, Sam was determined to spark change by applying technological and engineering advances to the quality and efficiency of patient care.
The Regenstrief Foundation and the Regenstrief Institute were established by Sam and his wife Myrtie on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus in 1969. They believed the modern advances in technology and processes in industry which made Sam successful could be applied to healthcare systems and research.
Closely associated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Eskenazi Health, and IU Health, Regenstrief Institute was created as a medical research and development organization focused on improving quality of care, increasing efficiency of healthcare delivery, preventing medical errors, and enhancing patient safety.
Our researchers and their teams honor Sam Regenstrief’s legacy every day by creating pathways for better health. Sharing Sam’s vision to improve the quality of patient care through innovation, the work of the Regenstrief Institute lives at the intersection of medicine, research, technology, and engineering.
The documentary at the left was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Regenstrief Institute. It shares the story of founders Sam and Myrtie Regenstrief and celebrates the healthcare innovations made possible by the institute.
Historical Publications
The Regenstrief Foundation
Sam and his wife, Myrtie, created The Regenstrief Foundation April 7, 1967 with assistance from legal counsel Leonard Betley, Sam’s nephew Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum, and Dr. John B. Hickam, professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine at IU School of Medicine.
“The avowed purpose was “to bring to the practice of medicine the most modern scientific advances from engineering, business, and the social sciences, and to foster the rapid dissemination into medical practice of the new knowledge created by research.”
Regenstrief: Legacy of the Dishwasher King
For more than five decades, the foundation has supported the efforts of researchers and clinicians who, like Sam, realize the tremendous opportunities to make medical care safer, more efficient and more accessible for everyone — no matter where they are.