Thank You, C. Everett Koop
If you’re over forty, you may recognized the bearded doctor in the picture as the colorful surgeon general who served under Ronald Reagan. If you’re a little younger, you may remember him as the guy who tried to provide health information via the web in it’s early days and failed. But if you’re the parent of child with special medical, you should be exceedingly grateful to him. He could be the reason your child is alive today.
First NICU in the United States
In 1946, he established the pediatric surgery division (only the second in the country) at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. In 1956, he established a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the same hospital, the first NICU in the country. In his years as surgeon-in-chief there (1946-1981), he developed many groundbreaking pediatric surgery procedures and techniques used today.
Koop: The Memoirs of America’s Family Doctor
His memoir, Koop: The Memoirs of America’s Family Doctor was released in 1992 by Zondervan. I read it shortly thereafter, when our son was ten. When he described his tenure at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, I was transfixed. During those years, he perfected the art of anesthetizing newborns, which opened up the field of pediatric surgery. I began to weep when he mentioned the first major life-saving pediatric surgery he pioneered: the tracheo-esophageal repair that saved our newborn son’s life in 1982.
Thank You, C. Everett Koop
My son is alive today, thanks in large part, to C. Everett Koop. The same is true for your kids, if they’ve had major surgery. Koop is still alive. Born in 1916, he’s now 94 years old. I would love to send him a thank you letter, along with a picture of my son and his new wife at their recent wedding. Wouldn’t a card shower for his 95th birthday from former NICU babies be cool?
But I have no idea of how to contact him. If anyone does have information leave a comment. Let’s get this going while we can still thank him.
Jolene
I believe he lives is South Jersey. He goes to a friend’s church- and he just got married. I will ask her is she knows any more info.
He got married at 90+? Well, pass on any information you discover.