SURGEON AND SUPPORTER As the first female surgeon at Morton Plant Hospital in 1972, it didn’t take Zena Lansky long to prove herself. “In those days there were no trauma centers so all trauma accidents, with guns, knives, came to the local hospital. I had a couple cases right away that were so hard and so unusual; everyone knew I may have been a woman but I was a surgeon also,” Lansky said recently. The first case was a woman who had stabbed herself in the heart and was dying. Lansky had worked on similar cases during her residency at New York’s Bellevue Hospital. She quickly stuck her finger in the hole in the heart, opened the pericardium (the membrane enclosing the heart) to let the blood out and relieve pressure, then started operating to repair the damage and save a life. Soon after, a young man riding a bike was hit by a cement mixer. “His whole gut was hanging out. It was one of the worst cases I’d ever seen. The urologist said, ‘I don’t think we can do anything,’ and I said, ‘Yes, I can,’ ” Lansky recounted. “We tied off two vessels to stop the pelvic bleeding, did a colostomy, put a tube in the bladder, packed him (with gauze), closed him and planned to go back the next day and take the packing out. The urologist was overwhelmed and told everybody, ‘This girl knows what she’s doing.’ ” Lansky came to Morton Plant from New York because of the bayside location and beautiful community. “Because it’s in such a great location, we can attract such a high quality of doctors who have trained at the best hospitals and colleges across the country,” she pointed out. But it takes more than great doctors to make a great hospital, Lansky added. She also credits a forward-thinking administration, top-notch nursing staff and generous foundation that enables the hospital to obtain the most advanced equipment and practices. Lansky talked about friends who have gone to hospitals out of state for certain
Morton Plant named its outpatient facility in Bardmoor the Zena Lansky Pavilion, to honor the surgeon’s latest $1.5 million gift to the hospital. Photograph courtesy Morton Plant Mease Health Care Foundation
specialties who say the doctors were great but the nursing staff and culture didn’t compare to Morton Plant’s. The hospital named its outpatient facility in Bardmoor the Zena Lansky Pavilion, to honor Lansky’s latest $1.5 million gift to Morton Plant. “I was the first doctor to have a building named after them. I wanted to set a standard for other doctors to give money to the hospital,” she said. “I have so much respect for this institution and I want the community to continue getting the best medical care.”
Because it’s in such a great location we can attract such a high quality of doctors who have trained at the best hospitals and colleges across the country.” DR. ZENA LANSKY
100 bay
DECEMBER 2016