The first chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology was
Dr. Leighton C. Conn (1922-1941). After he died in 1941, he was succeeded by
Dr. J. Ross Vant.
During the “Vant years” the steady growth of both the obstetrics and gynecology services continued. Dr. Vant was one of the first Canadians to gain membership to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of London, England.
In the early 1930s. Dr. Conn had been one of the first ‘Obstetrician-Gynecologists” recognized by the American College of Surgeons. The formal attire that Dr. Conn wore at the time of his investiture into the American College of Surgery was passed down to Dr. Vant, then to Dr. Ron Horner who donated it to the department. The cap and gown remain proudly displayed in a special cabinet in our resident seminar room.
Move to U of A Hospital
The department underwent a major transition with the move into the new University of Alberta Hospital in 1951. In his report, Dr. Vant fondly recalls the Obstetrics Unit during the early days of the department:
In a nutshell, our obstetric existence in the little yellow stuccoed cottage "out back", where there was no privacy, where the patients lined up for a chance at the toilet or the washbowl, where a bath was a luxury; but where the kindly attention and devotion of both nursing and house staff more than compensated for the physical shortcomings, and is now fondly recalled in one’s nostalgic memory by patients and staff alike.
With brand-new facilities, the growth of the clinical services increased at an even greater rate. Over the next decade, service volumes more than doubled in the 81 beds allotted to the department.
At the end of Dr. Vant’s term in 1962, the unit performed 2,211 deliveries with a Cesarean-section rate that, in keeping with the rest of the country, had “soared” to 4.9 per cent. The rate had remained stable over the previous decade, “despite the increased number of necessary repeat sections.”
In his final report, Dr. Vant noted the great increase in both scope and content of gynecological surgery. This was due to the availability of better anesthetic routines, blood and blood substitutes, and a closer liaison with members of other hospital departments. Perhaps prophetically, his last words to the board were:
I feel that more public beds are absolutely necessary if we are to meet the demand imposed by an expected and necessary increase in OPD admissions and, as well, to satisfy the requirements of our staff men irrevocably committed to this hospital.