Obituary: Alexander Garcia MD (1919–2012)

Alexander Garcia MD, Frank E. Stinchfield Professor Emeritus and Chairman Emeritus of Orthopaedic Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, NY, died at age 92 on February 5, 2012, after an illness at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, NY.

A valued long-time member of The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons^®, Dr. Garcia joined the association in 1966 and chaired its 1971 annual meeting in Madrid, Spain. Among his 20-plus publications, he coauthored two articles published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research^®(CORR^®): “Myositis Ossificans: Aftermath of Elbow Injuries” in 1967 [9] and “The Humeral Fracture With Radial Nerve Palsy: Is Exploration Warranted?” in 1972 [7].

Alexander Garcia (Fig. 1) was born in the Harlem section of New York City on July 3, 1919, to Pilar Prieto Garcia and Alejandro Garcia. After graduation from The College of The City of New York, he earned his medical degree from Long Island College of Medicine in 1943. During World War II, he served as a Captain in the US Army at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Fig. 1.

Dr. Garcia is shown on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Photo courtesy of and printed with permission of Barbara Brush Wright.

After graduate training in general surgery at Syracuse University Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, and Nassau Hospital in Mineola, NY, Dr. Garcia trained in orthopaedic surgery at New York Orthopaedic Hospital in 1948. Four years later, he became an attending orthopaedic surgeon at The Presbyterian Hospital and the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. At the same time, he joined the faculty of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons as an instructor, becoming a full professor by 1972. He was chief of the orthopaedic clinics at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center from 1968 to 1976, at which time he succeeded Frank E. Stinchfield as chairman of orthopaedic surgery of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and became the seventh director of the New York Orthopaedic Hospital, holding both posts until his retirement in 1983.

In an interview with CORR^®, Dr. Louis U. Bigliani, Frank E. Stinchfield Professor and chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery at Columbia University and director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Service at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center commented: “Alexander Garcia was a superb clinician and surgeon, as well as a gentleman. He was beloved by his patients for his kindness and understanding. His wisdom and teaching gained from his extraordinary experience in orthopaedic surgery were always welcomed, especially in complex cases.”

Two of Dr. Garcia’s former students echoed Dr. Bigliani’s sentiments when interviewed by CORR^®. Dr. David S. Bradford, Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California–San Francisco, said: “Alex was one of my mentors and one of the best of the best of New York Orthopaedic Hospital attendings. I remember that he was totally unselfish in his work with residents and students and always looked on the bright side of things.”

Dr. David P. Green of The Hand Center of San Antonio, TX, added: “Dr. Alex Garcia was a doctor’s doctor. He was loved and highly respected by all of the orthopaedic residents and was the first choice of any resident who needed orthopaedic care for a family member. He was a marvelous teacher, and he very patiently allowed residents to operate under his guidance. I recall his saying once that his patients got the best operation when he had a resident with good hands and he (Dr. Garcia) was the first assistant.” He also remembered Dr. Garcia’s witty one-liners (such as “no problem is so bad it can’t be made worse”), which Dr. Green called “Garcia’s laws.”

For his renowned dedication to Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Garcia was presented the P&S Distinguished Service Award in 2003. An Alexander Garcia MD Senior Resident Award was set up in his honor and is given to a senior orthopaedic resident who best exemplifies academic excellence, clinical proficiency, and a capacity for leadership. “So, Dr. Garcia’s legacy continues,” Dr. Bigliani said.

In addition to his association with New York Orthopaedic Hospital, Dr. Garcia served as consultant and board member for seven local hospitals. He was a long-time member of and active participant in many local and national orthopaedic and medical associations, including the Orthopaedic Section of The New York Academy of Medicine (Chairman, 1964) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (Chairman, 1965 and 1969 annual meetings), among others.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dr. Garcia collaborated with Charles S. Neer II, who was also affiliated with New York Orthopaedic Hospital, on three publications concerning treatment of fractures of the intercondylar eminence of the tibia and displaced intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck [1, 5, 6]. Later, he coauthored three papers with his student David S. Bradford discussing the treatment of lumbar intervertebral disk herniations in children and adolescents [2–4]. While working on one of these articles, Dr. Bradford had found that the only patients who received a combined operation (ie, a discectomy and a fusion) were those who had first seen an orthopaedic surgeon, whereas those who had first seen a neurosurgeon were treated with discectomy only, yet the outcomes were the same. Although the data caused much “consternation” among the orthopaedic staff, “Alex totally supported my publishing the study,” commented Dr. Bradford.

Dr. Garcia was also a member of the editorial board of Emergency Medicine and, in 1971, founded Orthopaedic Review (later the American Journal of Orthopedics^®), acting as its Editor-in-Chief until 1989.

Dr. Garcia was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Helen-Ann Garcia MD, who died in 2007 of Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by his companion Barbara Brush Wright, his son and daughter-in-law Alexander and Jodi Garcia of Valencia, CA, five nieces, and one nephew. He was predeceased by his brothers Ed and Frank.

A long-time resident of Shelter Island, NY, Dr. Garcia served the Shelter Island community through his involvement in the Mashomack Preserve, Ram Island Association, Senior Citizens Affairs Council, Friends of the Library, and other local organizations. In her remembrance of Dr. Garcia, friend and neighbor Janet Roach [8] recalled, while he was a board member of the Shelter Island Public Library, Dr. Garcia added a dumbwaiter to the library so that the staff would not have to carry heavy books up and down stairs. “I had visions of people breaking their hips,” he explained. The Shelter Island Lions Club named him Citizen of the Year in 2001. In his spare time, he enjoyed growing bonsais in his greenhouse, raising chickens, fishing, and sailing.

Ever the orthopaedist, even after retirement, Dr. Garcia occasionally tended to the orthopaedic needs of his Shelter Island neighbors. Janet Roach [8], in her remembrance, related the story of Dr. Garcia guiding back to health a neighbor who injured his back after a fall from his roof during a do-it-yourself project and then worrying when his “patient” resumed his roofing activities after his recovery.

CORR^® joins with the orthopaedic community in honoring the memory of Alexander Garcia MD—surgeon, teacher, mentor, leader—who, according to Ms. Roach’s remembrance [8], humbly referred to himself as just “a body and fender man.”