Breakthroughs & Innovations

Over the years, physician researchers at Harper University Hospital and Hutzel Women’s Hospital have made significant contributions to medicine and patient care. Here’s an abbreviated list of those contributions.

• 2009 – Harper and the DMC are named to America’s MOST WIRED hospitals list for the third consecutive year. The ranking from Hospitals & Health Networks magazine recognizes Harper as one of the most technologically advanced hospitals with fully-implemented Electronic Medical Records and 100 percent medication scanning.

• 2009 – Harper and the DMC establish the Cardiovascular Institute, a world-class heart and vascular center that offers Michigan’s most comprehensive cardiovascular services and treatments.

• 2009 – Harper University Hospital is certified as a “Center of Excellence for Stroke.”

• 2008 – Harper University Hospital and the DMC launch Cardio Team One, the nation’s first 24/7 heart attack response team.

• 2005 – Harper University Hospital is one of only five hospitals in the United States participating in a clinical trial of an implantable device designed to prevent stroke in patients with drug-resistant high blood pressure.

• 2004 – Harper University Hospital becomes the only hospital in Michigan with FDA approval to train physicians on how to perform a new, carotid artery stenting procedure with embolic protection.

• 2004 – Harper University Hospital is first in Michigan to offer Intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (iMRI), an innovative technology which enables “near-real-time” MRI views during surgery. Harper is also Michigan's only program using cancer vaccines and immunotherapy to treat brain tumors without chemotherapy.

• 1995 – Harper University Hospital debuts Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery, a non-invasive treatment for brain tumors.

• 1967 – Dr. Jerome Horwitz creates dideoxycytidine (ddC). Years later, it becomes the second cancer drug approved for AIDS patients.

• 1964 – Jerome Horwitz, Ph.D., synthesizes Azidothymidine (AZT) in a Michigan Cancer Foundation lab at Harper University Hospital. Originally designed as an anticancer drug, AZT later becomes the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of AIDS.

• 1952 – Harper University Hospital is the site of the world’s first successful open-heart surgery using a mechanical heart bypass pump. The pump was developed by an automotive engineer, GM scientists and  Harper Hospital physician Dr. Forest Dodrill.