|
 Heart
surgery itself, especially open-heart surgery, had only
recently emerged as a recognized technique in the late
fifties when St. Paul’s began to plan for its first
cardiac surgery. The development of cardiac surgery at
St. Paul’s Hospital is an exhilarating part of the
hospital’s past, and one that shows St. Paul’s
history of pioneering work. Not only was St. Paul’s
Hospital a pioneer in the sense of doing work that was
new around the world, but St. Paul’s was also one
of the first community hospitals to start this sort of
work. Even more impressive, Dr. Harold Rice, a doctor
at St. Paul’s, designed and built the hospital’s
first heart-lung bypass machine — the only bypass
machine designed and built in Canada. Rice also invented
several other devices including a blood flow meter, which
allowed doctors to monitor how much blood the heart-lung
bypass machine pumped in to patients.
 The
first open-heart surgery at St. Paul’s was performed
on June 22nd 1960. Doctors successfully repaired an atrial
septal defect, more commonly known as a hole in the heart.
Before the end of that year St. Paul’s performed
five more open-heart procedures and was well on the way
to becoming a leading center for heart care in Canada.
To read more about early open-heart surgery at St. Paul’s
download the printable
pdf version of Spirt of Discovery
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