History of the Department - by Dr Robert Lee

Written by Dr. Robert G. Lee
First Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences

THE CORKSCREW CLUB AND THE MURKY ORIGINS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES

Many of you who have lived through the turmoil of restructuring and the implosion of the Bow Valley Centre of the Calgary General Hospital may be surprised to learn that the idea of centralizing Neurology and Neurosurgery under one roof is not a new one.

In the “early days” – i.e. the 1970s – Neurology was a division of the Department of Medicine and Neurosurgery was a division of the Department of Surgery.Busy neurological and neurosurgical services existed at both Foothills Hospital and theCalgary General Hospital. Foothills had only been open since 1966, but by 1974 there were 4 neurologists (Robert Lee, Frank Ramsay, Sanat Mukherjee, Terry Hing) and 4 neurosurgeons (Frank Leblanc, Charles Taylor, Terry Myles, Jack Barlass). At the Calgary General there were 3 neurologists (Peter Seland, Roger West, Tom Braun) and 2 neurosurgeons (Michael Hunter, Alan Hepburn). Construction of the Health Sciences Centre had just been completed and the first class from the new medical school hadgraduated in 1973. The previous Alberta Children’s Hospital had not yet been built, and the Department of Pediatrics and the acute pediatric beds were located on Units 111 and 112 at Foothills. Neurosurgery at Foothills was located on unit 92 and Neurology patients were scattered on the various medical units.

Following the installation of the first CT scanner in western Canada at the Foothills Hospital in 1975 there was concern that, even in the days of the oil boom, that the Alberta government might not have the resources to provide all the new technology which we anticipated for two separate neurological-neurosurgical units in Calgary. These concerns led to discussions between the chiefs of neurology and neurosurgery at the two hospitals –Bob Lee and Frank Leblanc from Foothills and Peter Seland and Mike Hunter from CGH. A series of clandestine meetings were held over dinner and wine in a backroom of the Corkscrew restaurant (the predecessor of the Keg in the Stadium Shopping Centre). This highly secretive group functioned under the codename “Corkscrew Club”.

Out of these meetings emerged a document entitled “A Proposal for a Regional Program in Neurology and Neurosurgery for Southern Alberta”. This recommended that all of the acute neurological and neurosurgical services be centralized in one hospital. It is interesting to note that at this point there was no mention of establishing a separate department. The document was eventually submitted to the appropriate authorities and, over a period of many months, underwent intensive review by committees at both hospitals and at the Faculty of Medicine. I think it is fair to say that, although the proposal had the almost unanimous support of the neurological-neurosurgical community, it did not receive an overly warm reception by the other groups and institutions which looked at it. At Foothills the proposal was perceived by at least some of the other departments and divisions as a move by neurology and neurosurgery to acquire a larger share of beds and resources than they deserved. At the Calgary General there was concern about losing two of their “star” programs if everything ended up going to Foothills.

Eventually, after many months of discussion the proposal for a Regional Program was rejected. However, we were told that parts of the proposal were considered to have some merit, and we were asked if it was not possible to accomplish most of our objectives without such a complete centralization of the clinical services in one institution. The Corkscrew Club reconvened and after several more meetings we decided that it could be possible to integrate neurology and neurosurgery services in two hospitals and the associated educational and research programs, but only if we had a strong administrative structure to link everything together – namely a separate department at both the university and the hospital levels. A new proposal was written and again underwent critical review. In the fall of 1980 the proposal for a Department of Clinical Neurosciences was formally approved by the Faculty Council, and the new department officially came into existence on January 1, 1981. The Corkscrew Club continued to meet from time to time but tended to focus more on the social and non-scientific aspects of neurology and neurosurgery.

These comments cover just a few years in the development of the clinical neurosciences in Calgary. Perhaps future contributions by myself or others will look at earlier history from the 1950s and 1960s as well as the rapid growth which has occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.