In the
areas of heart and lung diagnosis, treatment and research,
St. Paul’s has established an excellent reputation
and has become BC’s designated provincial Heart
Centre. From the initial development of open-heart surgery
at the hospital, St. Paul’s has continually pushed
to ensure it provides patients with the best equipment,
techniques, facilities and staff. In many cases St. Paul’s
has had to overcome special hurdles caused by its size
and budget. However, the idea of what a small hospital
is, or isn’t, capable of, has never stopped the
staff of St. Paul’s. Instead of being barriers,
these hurdles have forced the staff of St. Paul’s
to create innovative solutions and have resulted in some
incredible creations.
One such example is Dr. Harold Rice’s heart-lung
bypass machine, the only such machine ever designed and
built in Canada. By building their own heart-lung machine,
St. Paul’s was able to start an open-heart surgery
program at a much lower cost than most hospitals. While
others believed that this sort of surgery could only be
done in large, university-affiliated hospitals, St. Paul’s
was able to show that with the proper facilities and equipment,
small hospitals were just as capable of excellence as
larger institutions.
Through the years, the cardio-pulmonary units have maintained
this early pioneering sprit and have continued to push
the boundaries of what others believe a small hospital
is capable of. After establishing strong clinical cardiology
and respiratory units, St.Paul’s stepped into pulmonary
research in 1977, even though at that time there was virtually
no laboratory research happening at the hospital. Since
then research at the hospital has mushroomed to become
a major component of cardiovascular and pulmonary care
at St. Paul’s. With the opening of the iCAPTURE
labs in 2000, St. Paul’s has established itself
as one of the leading centres for cardiovascular and pulmonary
research in North America.
In all areas of cardiovascular and pulmonary care—diagnosis,
treatment and research—St. Paul’s has exceeded
expectations and succeeded while maintaining a friendly
and welcoming atmosphere.
St. Paul’s success is a sign of not only the achievements
of a few bright stars, but of the co-operation between
physicians, researchers, nurses, technicians, administration
and volunteers, as well as the partnership between the
hospital, its many benefactors and funding bodies, the
University of British Columbia and of course patients
themselves. St. Paul’s cardiology, respiratory and
research departments have all often and continuously benefited
from generous funding from, among others, the Hospital
Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. and
the Yukon, the B.C. Lung Association, the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research, The B.C. Knowledge Development Fund,
the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Woodward
Foundation. Through these various groups the people of
British Columbia have also supported St. Paul's and the
work it has done.
As St. Paul’s looks towards the future and increased
growth and expansion, the history of these pioneering
efforts in cardiac and pulmonary care inform the next
steps the hospital will take. Over the past forty years
the hospital has built a legacy of excellence that promises
to carry it forward to meeting its next goals in superior
patient care.
Acknowledgements
In 2004, a team of doctors at St. Paul’s
Hospital came together in order to gather the history
of cardiac and respiratory work at the hospital. The goal
of the project was to recognize the pioneers in these
fields who worked at St. Paul’s and to make their
stories known, as well as to show how St. Paul’s
fit into the history of respiratory and cardiac care and
research world-wide. The project team included Drs. Graeme
Copland, Richard Donevan, Al Gerein, Jim Hogg, Doris Kavanagh-Gray,
Bruce McManus, Peter Pare and Dwight Peretz. In addition,
several other people helped by giving valuable interviews.
The team would like to thank Drs. Bates, Hardwick, Lawson,
Nakielna, Webb and Webber, as well as Gloria Stephens
and Faye Meuser for their contributions. Finally, this
project could not have been completed without the help
of the staff and volunteers of the St. Paul’s Hospital
archives in particular Melanie Hardbattle.
Spirit of Discovery: the history of cardiopulmonary
pioneers at St. Paul’s Hospital was researched and
written by Käthe Lemon. The page layout and web design
for the project was done by Peter Pare. |
