Baird, James A

Born Hastings 24 Jan 1922                          Died Hastings 10 Jul 2003

Educated at Wellington College

HS / HP, Palmerston North Hospital 1946 - 1947

Surgical Registrar, Palmerston North Hospital 1948

RSO / Surgical Registrar, Essex County Hospital, Colchester Jan 1950 - Mar 1951

RSO / Surgical Registrar, Brompton Hospital, London May 1951 - Aug 1952 (Sir Russell Brock and Mr O S Tubbs)

Appointed Wellington Hospital's first full-time Thoracic Surgeon Nov 1952

Established surgery for congenital heart disease and for mitral valvotomy

Study leave 1960 (6 months) to multiple centres in England and in the USA

Headed the 2nd National Cardiac Surgery Unit at Wellington Hospital, when it was opened in 1964, and with his colleague, Tim Savage, pioneered cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in Wellington

Retired 31 Dec 1982

Obituary: NZMJ 2003 116:22 Aug 2003

photograph courtesy Wellington Hospital photographic archive