The University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center is a healthcare center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a major source of education, medical care, and research in Greater Cincinnati training health care professionals and providing research and patient care. The Academic Health Center (AHC) consists of multiple University of Cincinnati colleges that are listed below, Hoxworth Blood Center, UC Barrett Cancer Institute, and the programs and institutes at the Reading Campus. The AHC also has strong ties to UC Health, which includes the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, West Chester Hospital, and University of Cincinnati Physicians. The academic health center concept originated with physician Daniel Drake, who founded the Medical College of Ohio, the precursor to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, in 1819.