Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Mich., created the Harry N. Herkowitz, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedics.
The new chair is named for the late chairman of the orthopedics department at Beaumont Hospital Harry Herkowitz, MD, a spine surgeon who passed away in June 2013. Here are five things to know about the new chair:
1. Around 300 physicians, family, friends, patients and former students contributed $2.2 million to honor Dr. Herkowtiz and Beaumont Orthopaedics.
2. Jeffrey Fischgrund, MD, chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at Beaumont is the first Herkowtiz Distinguished Chair appointee. He will use the funds to support ongoing education and research at Beaumont. "If you made a tree of spine surgery, all branches would lead to Harry Herkowtiz," said Dr. Fischgrund in the news release.
The funds could potentially be used for groundbreaking studies on the use of tissue engineering techniques and synthetic materials to enhance bone growth; the use of adult stem cells and tissue engineering to heal and regenerate intervertebral discs; and the examination of biomarkers as early detection tools for spine conditions such as degenerative disc disease.
3. The Herkowitz family and Beaumont leadership began creating the endowed chair soon after Dr. Herkowtiz's sudden death. The funds establish a chair that would benefit future generations of patients, residents and orthopedic surgeons by investing in state-of-the-art research, education and technology initiatives.
"We wanted to create a tangible tribute as an honor to our father," said Dr. Herkowtiz's son Seth, co-chair of the Endowment Committee. "We wanted his legacy to be part of Beaumont forever. It's incredible to see how many people have contributed to the endowed chair. It's a testament to my father as a surgeon, mentor, leader and friend."
4. The fund will also support the orthopedic department's work as a fast-growing implant retrieval and analysis database. The database helps researchers assess the quality and longevity of orthopedic implants, contributing to technology enhancement.
"I am most excited about improving our imaging technology to pinpoint the source of the patients' pain; continuing our research to regenerate aging discs; improving our surgical techniques to allow for faster recoveries; and utilizing outcomes research to better evaluate the surgical procedures performed on patients to help determine the best operation for that patient's problem," said Dr. Herkowitz in a February 2013 interview with Becker's Spine Review.
5. Dr. Herkowitz arrived at Beaumont in 1975 for his orthopedic residency before heading to Pennsylvania Hospital for a spine fellowship. He directed the spine surgery fellowship program at Beaumont from 1987 to 2009 and became the chairman of orthopedic surgery in 1991. Beaumont Royal Oak ranked among the top 50 programs in the nation for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report 13 times under Dr. Herkowitz's leadership.
In an early 2013 interview, Dr. Herkowitz told Becker's Spine Review, "My decision to pursue a spinal surgery career occurred during my third year of orthopedic surgery residency. I was greatly influenced by Carl Samberg, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in children's orthopedics and surgery of the spine. He was one of only a few orthopedic surgeons doing spinal surgery at the time. Spinal surgery as a subspecialty in orthopedic surgery was really in its infancy.
"The types of procedures done and instrumentation available for cervical, thoracic and lumbar surgery were limited to spinal rods, hooks and wires. I was fascinated with the ability to correct spinal curvatures and fix unstable spine fractures and remove ruptured discs to get patients out of pain. The surgical procedures were very intriguing and 'special.' I felt this specialty was the one I wanted to embrace and I pursued a post graduate spine fellowship, one of only a handful in the country with Dr. Richard H. Rothman in Philadelphia, for which I completed and returned to Michigan and Beaumont Hospital in 1980 to begin my practice."
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