Dr. Gail Anderson, 'father of emergency medicine,' dies

Dr. Gail Anderson, a surgeon known as the “father of emergency medicine,” died earlier this month of complications from pneumonia in Pasadena, Calif. Anderson was 88, according to the University of Southern California, where he was a founding faculty member of its emergency medicine department.

In 1971, Anderson became the first professor and chairman of an academic department of emergency medicine in the U.S. when he took on those roles at USC's medical school. Following his appointment, he spent nearly the next two decades pushing for formal recognition of emergency medicine as a specialty, which was designated as such in 1989. During that period, Anderson founded the first physician assistant emergency medicine program at Los Angeles County and USC Medical Center and also helped form the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He served as the board's president from 1987 to 1988.

“Not many people can say that they launched a new medical specialty, but Gail was one of the few individuals who launched a highly successful specialty in emergency medicine,” Dr. Ed Newton, interim chair of the USC emergency medicine department, said in a release. “In fact, people now can hardly imagine a hospital without emergency medicine. Gail was not only an astute politician and leader, but he was also highly concerned with the welfare of the individual patients. He set that tone for the entire department for many years to come.”

Anderson served as chair of the department until his retirement in 2002. At that time, the emergency department at Los Angeles County and USC Medical Center was renamed the Gail Anderson, M.D. Department of Emergency Medicine.

In addition to his contributions to the field of emergency medicine, Anderson was also known as an accomplished gynecological surgeon and teacher and researcher of diabetic pregnancy. Following service in the U.S. Navy during World War II and graduation from Loma Linda (Calif.) University, Anderson began his medical career with training in obstetrics and gynecology in Washington, D.C. He was then named director of the OB-GYN service at Los Angeles County General Hospital in 1958 and eventually professor and acting chair of the OB-GYN department at USC. He served in those posts until 1971, when the dean of USC's medical school and the medical director of the county hospital asked him to chair the emergency medicine department.

“The world of medicine has suffered a great loss,” Dr. Carmen Puliafito, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, said in the release. “The USC department of emergency medicine residency program is one of the country's most highly regarded, and that was very much due to Gail's stewardship.”

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