HOSPITAL ROUNDS

On February 27, 2010 the colleagues and friends of Dr. Sam Alvaran gathered to honor his career in Anesthesiology at GBMC. Sam has retired this year and continues his battle with cancer. The evening brought together the GBMC operating room family including the many physicians of Physician Anesthesia Associates (PAA), nurse anesthetists, anesthesia technicians, OR nurses and technicians, PACU nurses, GBMC physicians and surgeons whose lives and careers were intertwined with Sam Alvaran. Evident throughout the evening were Sam’s love for everyone of GBMC and their love in return.

The evening was highlighted by songs by Ester Ousborne who sang The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Remember When and by Sam’s daughter, Terri Curtis, who sang Promise. Bob Cordes, Jose Dominguez and Jo Ann Loeliger put their creative talents together to produce a great video and John Bisker reenacted the Sam Alvaran Shogun era.

Sam Alvaran came to GBMC in 1972 from Johns Hopkins. Dr. Pedro Garcia, who later became the second chairman of the department of anesthesiology, brought Sam to the department to run the heart program that somehow evaded the medical center to end up close by. Pedro remarked on his over 50 year friendship with Sam Alvaran; how they would flip a coin to see who would be the first to go home after being on-call. “Sam always won. I don’t know to this day how he did it”. Pedro, not always intelligible but never at a loss for words, expressed his great friendship and affection for Sam.

Sam was a part of a premier group of anesthesiologists who made surgeons want to bring their patients to GBMC because they recognized that their patients would be attended with expert and safe care. This excellence made GBMC one of the busiest surgical hospital in the state. Al Nelson, Pedro Garcia and today, Harry Goll have gathered an outstanding cohort of talented individuals. Many, like Sam Alvaran, were trained at Johns Hopkins.

Sam’s colleagues noted his quiet competence. How he silenced Pedro Garcia by intubating a difficult patient after several others had been unsuccessful. How he stayed close as a young anesthesiologist rescued the airway of a critical patient. When asked why he was still there, he replied “I knew you were upset, I wanted to be here for you”. The respect and affection for Sam Alvaran was palpable that evening.

Other stories included an emergency in OB where a Japanese speaking patient was in active labor. Sam expertly calmed her in fluent Japanese (if only in intonation and gestures). I operated with Sam Alvaran for over 25 years and have no stories. Perhaps, as a surgeon, that’s what you want from your anesthesiologist, no stories, just quiet competence. That is Sam Alvaran.

Just as Lou Gehrig addressed his adoring fans at Yankee Stadium many years ago, Sam Alvaran took the podium to address his fans. Like Gehrig, he said “I feel that I am sitting on the top of the world because I am surrounded by people whom I love and people who love me”.