TORONTO — Dr. Bernard Ludwig delivered some 20,000 babies during the more than half a century he practised medicine in Toronto.
Dr. Bernard Ludwig
He will be honoured by the Canadian Friends of Herzog Hospital Ezrath Nashim Jerusalem at a concert and silent auction on Monday, Nov. 9, at the City Playhouse in Thornhill, Ont.
The Dr. Bernard Ludwig Scholarship for the Nurses’ Aides Training Program for Ethiopian Immigrants will be established at the hospital, which was founded in 1895 and is now the foremost geriatric and psychiatric hospital in Israel.
Ludwig says that over the years, he has worked closely with nurses in the delivery room.
“A nurse is a very good helper to a doctor, and if nurses are trained, they are a very important part of obstetrics,” he said.
He added he is pleased that the Herzog scholarship for Ethiopian immigrants will help many poor people in Jerusalem. The scholarship will also train midwives.
He said that in medicine, and particularly in obstetrics, there have been great advances, such as computers that can track a baby’s heart from home and ultrasound, which can detect abnormalities in the placenta.
Ludwig, 87, graduated from the University of Toronto in 1945 and pursued his specialty in obstetrics and gynecology in the United States. After serving in the Canadian Army Medical Corps, he began his obstetrical practice in 1950 at the original Mount Sinai Hospital on Yorkville Avenue in Toronto, when the delivery area was one room, divided in two.
Over the half century he practised medicine, there were many times that he slept at Mount Sinai while a patient was in labour. “I hadn’t been on vacation for 20 years, and there was a period of time that I hadn’t been to our cottage near Peterborough for 10 years,” he said.
“Many times, since I slept at the hospital, I would be awakened by other specialists to assist with their deliveries.”
In 1994, Ludwig stopped delivering babies and continued working as a family practitioner until his retirement in 2008.
He has been honoured with the creation of the Bernard Ludwig Fellowship in Maternal/Fetal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and has received an award from ECHO – The Joseph Tenenbaum National Jewish Institute for Health.
“I’ve had an unusual career,” Ludwig said. “Our life has been disturbed between the demands on my schedule and my wife’s artistic career.” His wife, Margaret Florence, is an acclaimed painter and sculptor. The Ludwigs have four children and 13 grandchildren.
Dr. Dorothy Pullan, who is co-chairing the Herzog event with Miriam Frankel, told The CJN that the medical and research centre at Herzog Hospital is recognized for its research in behavioural genetics including work in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, eating disorders, addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia.
Pullan said that the hospital treats child and adult victims of terror attacks, war and domestic violence.
The Herzog Hospital fundraising event will feature the vocal group Cadence. Both of Cadence’s Juno-nominated albums have met with wide critical acclaim.
For more information about the concert and silent auction, call 416-256-4222 or fax 416-256-1446.
