Hospital Chief of Staff Retires
Hefner's Legacy: LBJ's Growth and Stability

When James D. Hefner, M.D., was a practicing Army obstetrician/gynecologist, he gave the same care to a private's wife as he gave to a general's daughter. During his 12-year tenure as chief of staff at the Harris County Hospital District's LBJ Hospital, he worked to instill this philosophy into his staff, ensuring that they in turn taught by example to the residents and interns.

"With every new class of medical students, I have taken it upon myself to teach these medical ethics," said Hefner, who retired after 58 years in medicine - the last 12 at LBJ.

It is this philosophy that has led to the hospital's consistent growth since Hefner came aboard. In August 1990 there were 3,280 outpatient visits compared to 7,965 this past July.

The transformation of LBJ from an obstetrics hospital to a general hospital with a Level III trauma center was the responsibility of a medical team from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston led by Hefner. The hospital's ongoing growth has been the result of a partnership between Hefner and the Harris County Hospital District's Margo Hilliard, M.D., senior vice president and LBJ hospital administrator.

Hefner was on the UT-Houston task force that created the medical team which began providing patient services at LBJ July 1, 1990. Twelve years later, with the LBJ groundwork in place, he has retired after 58 years of service (35 years in the Army, three years with Amoco in occupational medicine and 20 years at UT-Houston).

"I was the only one of the UT faculty with this type of previous experience," said Hefner, who had been chief of staff at many hospitals, commanded hospitals in the army, and had first-hand trauma care experience on the battlefields during World War II and the Vietnam War. When he retired from the Army in 1978, Hefner was chief of staff of Health Services Command based at Fort Sam Houston.

"We managed 49 post hospitals and nine medical centers, including Walter Reed," he said.

Last month, the hospital district's board of managers presented Hefner with a proclamation signed by all managers thanking him for his years of service to LBJ as well as a brick from the razed Jeff Davis Hospital, the institution that LBJ replaced. The brick displays an engraved plate with Hefner's name and years of service.

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston also honored Hefner. Dean L. Maximilian Buja, M.D., presented him with a rocking chair and appointed him professor emeritus. Hefner will remain chair of the Policy Review Committee, which oversees the residency program and is responsible for all resident affairs, including pay scale and grievances.

Hilliard believes that Hefner's strong presence as chief of staff helped stabilize the residency-training program and ultimately acquire the outstanding reputation it has today.

"Dr. Hefner was my first real hero because he would go to bat for us on issues that were important to the hospital. His contributions took other forms, such as his sense of appropriateness and his commitment to making us the best that we could be," said Hilliard.

Hefner is succeeded by Michael W. Bungo, M.D. Prior to joining the UT-Houston Medical School faculty, Bungo was affiliated with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, both as a professor of medicine and vice chairman for inpatient affairs in the internal medicine department, and as director of the Heart Station in the division of cardiology. From 1980 to 1991, Bungo was head of the cardiovascular laboratory at NASA and served as a mission control flight surgeon, where he was responsible for the health of orbiting space flight crewmembers. He received his M.D. from the New Jersey Medical School.

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/09_15_02/page_09.html