[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15534-15535]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO KRISTAPS J. KEGGI, M.D.

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, today I share with the Senate a 
remarkable story, a story about a man, who, simply by living and 
cherishing his American dream, inspired hundreds--if not thousands--to 
pursue their own.
  Dr. Kristaps J. Keggi came to New York in 1949 with his parents and 
three brothers. They were all refugees fleeing a Communist regime 
controlling their native Latvia. Dr. Keggi's father, a general surgeon, 
courageously packed up his family and left for Germany when Kris was 
only 10 years old. Five years later, sponsored by a church in Brooklyn, 
NY, the family arrived in the United States--with only one dollar 
between them all.
  Dr. Keggi, then 15, almost immediately started work as an usher at 
Brooklyn's St. George Hotel. After working and completing high school 
at the Brunswick School in Greenwich, CT, Dr. Keggi attended Yale 
College. As an undergrad, Dr. Keggi joined the Yale fencing team. It is 
no surprise that he was named team captain! Hard work, dedication, and 
a commitment to excellence earned Dr. Keggi his bachelor's degree in 
1955--and a coveted slot in the Yale School of Medicine's class of 
1959.
  After graduating from Yale Medical School, Dr. Kristaps Keggi spent 2 
years completing a general surgery residency at Roosevelt Hospital in 
New York City. He then went on to finish his orthopaedic training at 
Yale. A few years earlier, in 1957, Dr. Keggi accepted his commission 
as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve. After completing his 
residency training in 1964, Dr. Keggi served on active duty for 2 
years--one of them in Vietnam. He was the chief of orthopaedic surgery 
with the 3rd Surgical Hospital north of Saigon and on the Cambodian 
border of the Central Highlands. The facility was a mobile Army 
surgical hospital--more commonly known as a helicopter transport 
``MASH'' unit.
  During his service in Vietnam, Dr. Keggi expanded his acute surgical 
and trauma management skills. He also worked closely with Army corpsmen 
and helicopter personnel to improve the care and outcomes for injured 
soldiers. I applaud and admire not only his service to a very grateful 
nation, but also the care, compassion, and devotion he showed each and 
every American soldier he treated--men who endured the unimaginable, 
bled, and paid the ultimate price to keep us safe and free. Our country 
is a better place because of him.
  After completing his Vietnam service, Dr. Keggi returned to Yale in 
1966 as an assistant professor. He worked, primarily, in orthopaedic 
trauma surgery and emergency care. Dr. Keggi immediately saw the need 
to create staged medical care and advanced trauma management systems. 
This way, the hospital could provide improved acute medical services to 
injured patients in New Haven--and all across the country. Dr. Keggi 
soon obtained a $20,000 grant to develop a trauma program at Yale. His 
subsequent studies

[[Page 15535]]

on trauma registries, emergency care of trauma patients, and published 
scholarly works proved groundbreaking. It was not long before the 
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded Dr. Keggi another major 
institutional grant to construct the Surgical Research Building at 
Yale. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dollars also helped start the 
Yale University School of Medicine Physician Associate Program. Over 
time, the Yale physicians assistant program grew to be one of the very 
best in the country. Today approximately 900 physician assistants have 
received their degrees from Yale. This achievement is, without a doubt, 
thanks, in part, to Dr. Keggi's vision and relentless commitment to 
help change the field of medicine for the better.
  A turning point came in 1986 when Dr. Keggi decided to take a trip to 
Moscow and watch his daughter Mara row for the United States of America 
at the first Goodwill games. It was at the games where Dr. Keggi met a 
group of Latvian surgeons who encouraged him to visit his place of 
birth--Riga. He agreed. That trip convinced Dr. Keggi it was time to 
start an exchange program dedicated to orthopaedic teaching and 
research.
  In 1988, Dr. Keggi established the non-profit Keggi Orthopaedic 
Foundation which funds medical exchange fellowship training programs 
for orthopaedic surgeons in the United States, Russia, the Baltic 
nations, and Vietnam. Foreign doctors come to the United States to 
observe state-of-the-art medical procedures conducted in Dr. Keggi's 
Waterbury facility. Upon returning to their home countries, those 
doctors can implement proven techniques in their own practices--helping 
alleviate patient pain and suffering. That is Dr. Keggi's vision: 
helping the orthopaedic community worldwide to offer the highest 
quality patient care. Each and every day he lives out the foundation's 
mission to be a dedicated, professional, caring, and compassionate team 
player seeking only to improve patient quality of life. It is clear 
these young, foreign doctors appreciate Dr. Keggi's wisdom and 
experience. He is a seasoned teacher who wants his students' careers to 
shine--but not for their own personal glory. Instead, his goal is to 
show the world that each of his students can and will perform at 
exceptional levels--delivering the very best medical care possible. 
That is his legacy.
  Dr. Keggi has made, and will continue to make, an indelible mark on 
our profession. His ambition helps him to achieve his own goals and 
dreams--at the same time his example encourages other medical 
professionals to strive to achieve theirs. In 2008, Dr. Keggi returned 
to the Yale Medical School faculty as a full time professor. And so, it 
is only fitting that on September 23, 2010, his beloved alma mater will 
name him the inaugural Elihu Professor of Orthopaedics and 
Rehabilitation. Yale University established this professorship through 
a combination of private donors to pay tribute to Dr. Keggi. The 
position will serve as the cornerstone of a joint reconstruction 
program at the Yale School of Medicine--a center of excellence in 
clinical care, research, medical education, and training. It is 
important to know that Yale has already announced its intention to 
rename the professorship in Dr. Keggi's honor when he decides to leave 
the teaching post.
  Dr. Keggi's medical and managerial skills have been tested time and 
time again--from prestigious hospitals to the battlefields of Vietnam. 
His life's work has brought hope and healing to the physically and 
emotionally broken. But it is because of his strong family values and 
devotion to community service that this award is so meaningful to Dr. 
Keggi. The award shows him exactly how grateful, how proud, and how 
honored the New Haven community is for his leadership. I am sure Dr. 
Keggi would tell you that much of his life's success is due, in large 
part, to the strength of his family. He was blessed to have the love 
and support of his parents. It was also Dr. Keggi's good fortune that 
his wife Julia accepted his proposal for marriage. Over the years, 
Julia has been Dr. Keggi's rock. He regularly says he would not have 
accomplished his goals without Julia and their three beautiful and 
talented daughters--Caroline, Catherine, and Mara--by his side.
  I am eternally grateful and proud to call Dr. Kristaps Keggi my 
friend. He is a respected mentor and adviser. I did my orthopaedic 
training under Dr. Keggi's watchful eye--assisting him in close to 100 
operations. It was my great privilege and incredible fortune to work 
side-by-side with the man who pioneered the anterior approach to total 
hip replacements. As an internationally renowned expert in hip and knee 
replacement surgery, it is quite fitting that the Yale School of 
Medicine has named him the Elihu Professor of Orthopaedics and 
Rehabilition. I ask that my colleagues join me in sending our warmest 
congratulations to Dr. Keggi and his family for this well-deserved 
honor.

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