DeBakey's
legacy
Dr. Michael E. DeBakey
Sept. 7, 1908 -- July 11, 2008
That Dr. Michael E. DeBakey had a profound effect in the field of cardiovascular surgery would be a profound understatement.
During his 99 years of life -- more than 70 of which he spent working -- the tireless perfectionist performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries. He helped create more than 70 surgical instruments. He developed the roller pump, which opened the field of open-heart surgery by mechanically replicating the heart and lungs during surgery.
Dr. DeBakey was the first to replace arterial aneurysms. He performed the first Dacron graft to replace part of an occluded artery. He began coronary arterial bypasses in this country and was one of the first to perform human heart transplants.
He found time to author more than 1,000 medical papers, chapters and books. He helped establish the National Library of Medicine. He transformed the Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital in Houston into one of the nation's best.
Untold thousands, perhaps millions, of heart patients owe their longevity and lives in part to the brilliance of this one doctor.
That includes a lot of western Kansans as well, for Dr. DeBakey lent not only his name but his time and expertise to create the open heart surgery program at Hays Medical Center. In the almost 10 years the DeBakey Heart Institute has been open on Canterbury Road, there have been almost 1,300 open heart surgeries, over 9,000 cardiac catheterizations and more than 30,000 other cardiac procedures.
"We would not be providing the services we offer to western Kansas without his help and support," said Dr. John Jeter, president and chief executive officer of HMC.
According to HMC's chief operating officer, Bryce Young, Dr. DeBakey visited Hays early and often in the 1990s. He advised on protocols, spent time in the operating room, worked with staff, helped develop post-operative care, even assisted in selecting the first cardiovascular surgeon and the equipment for the catheterization lab. He offered consultation services on specific surgeries since that time and served as chairman of the board of the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Institute of Western Kansas.
A contingent of Hays Medical Center administrators and staff attended Dr. DeBakey's funeral Wednesday in Houston. Flags were flown at half-staff that day and a memorial wreath was placed inside the Bickle Pavilion, where a permanent display commemorates his life's work.
At Hays businessman Don Bickle's urging, HMC has even commissioned Omer Knoll, a well-known Palco artist who's formerly of Victoria, to create a bronze bust of the late doctor. The bust will find prominent display at the hospital as well.
This pioneer of open heart surgery will be missed by the medical community in general and western Kansas in particular.
"We are extremely proud to be associated with Dr. DeBakey," said Dr. Jeter.
"His legacy is holding the fragile and sacred gift of human life in his hands and returning it unbroken," said President George Bush earlier this year when awarding the physician the Congressional Gold Medal.
Thank you, Dr. Michael E. DeBakey. You left this world a decidedly better place than you found it.
Editorial by Patrick E. Lowry