A.V. HOSPITAL RADIATION THERAPY PIONEER BIRSNER DIES AT 86.Byline: Daily News LLANO lla·no n. pl. lla·nos A large, grassy, almost treeless plain, especially one in Latin America. [Spanish, plain, from Latin pl - Funeral services will be held Friday for Dr. John William Birsner Sr., who was Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Hospital's one and only director of radiology from its opening in 1955 until 1997. Birsner, a Llano resident, died Monday in a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. hospital at age 86. Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at St. Andrew's Abbey St. Andrew's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery of men located in Valyermo, California. In 1929, St. Andrew's Abbey in Bruges, Belgium founded St. Andrew's Priory in China. Until 1953, the monks of St. Andrew's Priory conducted missionary work among the Chinese. in Valyermo, with Abbot Frances Benedict officiating. Burial will take place in the Abbey cemetery. Creator of the first cancer therapy ward between Los Angeles and Bakersfield and an expert on Valley fever valley fever: see coccidioidomycosis. , Birsner was greatly involved with the community, supporting the hospital's Gift Foundation and Desert Haven. In 1995 Birsner received the Outstanding Contribution to Medicine Award from the Kern County Medical Society and was commended for his work with a state Assembly resolution. Birsner was born Dec. 22, 1916, in New Orleans, the son of a beer maker. His family moved out of the United States during Prohibition, and he graduated from the University of Manitoba Location The main Fort Garry campus is a complex on the Red River in south Winnipeg. It has an area of 2.74 square kilometres. More than 60 major buildings support the teaching and research programs of the university. in Canada before returning to Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. for his medical degree. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Before taking the job as radiology director at Antelope Valley Hospital in 1955, Birsner lived in Bakersfield and traveled to the Antelope Valley to work with local physicians in town and at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . He was the first physician to bring modern radiation therapy to Bakersfield, establishing the first cobalt therapy unity in his office in 1957. In 1964, he opened the first cobalt therapy unit at Antelope Valley Hospital. As president of the Lucile Reid Cancer Institute of Bakersfield, Birsner brought the first equipment for mammography mammography, diagnostic procedure that uses low-dose X rays to detect abnormalities in the breasts. The early diagnosis of breast cancer made possible by the routine use of mammography for screening women increases a woman's treatment alternatives and improves her to the Antelope Valley in 1969. In 1971 he launched a breast cancer detection program in the Antelope Valley. He retired from the hospital in 1997 at the age of 80. During his four decades there he was known for his generosity, often buying equipment for the hospital with his own money. He watched the hospital grow from an 86-bed facility with 450 employees to a 352-bed hospital with about 1,400 workers. ``I've seen growth and medical advances,'' Birsner said in a 1997 interview. ``The only constants were the winds and dust. Everything else has changed.'' Birsner is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Birsner; children, Dr. John W. Birsner Jr., Dr. Harvey Birsner, Margaret Rapaport, Helen Elizabeth Bolles, Robin Austin-Olsen and Jenni Stanford; step-children Doug Wilson, Mark Wilson and Barbara Wilson; and six grandchildren. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) no caption (Dr. John William Birsner Sr.) (2) Dr. John William Birsner Sr. is shown in 1997, the year he retired as director of radiology at Antelope Valley Hospital. Creator of the first cancer therapy ward between Los Angeles and Bakersfield and an expert on Valley Fever, Birsner was greatly involved with the community, supporting the hospital's Gift Foundation and Desert Haven. ``I've seen growth and medical advances,'' Birsner said. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion