All,

It is with great sadness that I write to inform you that Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, Jr . passed away on Monday, July 30th.

Dr. McGuire was a master surgeon, teacher, writer, and administrator. He was Professor of Surgery at VCU and served as Chief of Surgery at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center until 2000. The hospital is named after his great grandfather and namesake, a Civil War surgeon who operated on Stonewall Jackson and founded the University College of Medicine which later merged with the Medical College of Virginia.

Dr. McGuire helped design the current VAMC, and was a well-loved mentor and teacher. Using his artistic skill, he wrote an entire series of booklets illustrating to general surgery residents how to perform all the common surgical procedures, emphasizing meticulous and efficient surgical techniques. He was uniformly respected by trainees, colleagues, and hospital staff. He performed a wide range of general surgical procedures including Whipples, portal venous shunts, hysterectomies, hernia repairs (many under local anesthesia), highly selective vagotomies, fundoplication, all with excellent results. 

As Chief of Surgery at the VAMC, he helped to build the heart transplant program. The Richmond VAMC remains the only VA in the country which performs heart transplants on site. 

Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Vigneshwar Kasirajan, MD
Professor & Chair
VCU Surgery

Jeannie F. Savas, MD
Professor & Chief of Surgical Services
Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center