George Hewlett MD (Died May 2 2007)

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Began his Residency at Garfield Memorial Hospital; completed it at the new Washington Hospital Center in 1959

SPECIAL DELIVERY: ONE OF THE FIRST CESEAREAN SECTIONS AT
HOSPITAL CENTER INVOLVED UNUSUAL JOURNEY

When the Hospital Center first opened, it was just before the social upheaval of the 1960s, and attitudes were very different, especially for women who were unmarried and became pregnant. At the time, I was a resident at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and we had a contract to provide care to the young women at the Florence Crittendon Home for Unwed Mothers in Georgetown.

One night during my senior year of residency, I was on duty at the Crittendon Home with a patient in labor whom I believed needed a Cesarean section. Getting transportation at the time was difficult as there were few ambulances available. I knew the route to the Hospital Center well, and I decided I had no choice but to drive the patient there in my own car.

When we got to the Hospital Center, I took her right to the OR and she delivered a healthy baby by C-section, one of the first ever performed at the new hospital.

I was highly admonished by the attending physician, but I felt I had made the right choice for that young woman and her baby. I'm very proud of my residency at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. In my day, it was a smaller program. It's become so much bigger over the years, and I'm elated about that.

*Dr. Hewlett died on May 2, 2007, after providing us with this memory.