Dr. Harvey Birsner, 72, a member of the Antelope Valley (AV) medical community for 41 years, passed away at his home. Dr. Birsner received his medical degree from University of California San Francisco, and his postgraduate neurosurgical training at Parkland Memorial Hospital, in Dallas. When Harvey passed away, the doors of the Santa Monica Drive-Thru Brain Surgery Center in Santa Monica, CA, closed forever.
Harvey was Chief of Neurosurgery at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital (USNH #5) in the late 1960s, which is where I met him. I was a Navy Nurse at the time, and spent most of my duty time on the enlisted men's neurosurgical unit at the hospital. These Marines (and some sailors) came to us fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, and were seriously wounded. Harvey was incredibly kind and exceptionally skilled. He was always willing to teach, as well. I learned so much from him. The nurses, corpsmen, and the injured men who were alert enough, all were grateful for his caring. I remember when a Marine I was especially close to was near death, Dr. Birsner was deeply pained that he could not do anything to save him.
When William F. Hoyt, MD '50, PhD, then a neuro-ophthalmologist in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery, accepted Harvey Birsner onto the Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship Program, he stipulated one condition: he had to read all volumes of Walsh & Hoyt's Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology before he could begin training. Harvey was happy to quickly comply. Dr Hoyt said that Harvey was the only neurosurgeon in the United States who could identify the retinal nerve fiber layer with an ophthalmoscope.
He was AV's first neurosurgeon and served on the medical staff of each of the Valley's hospitals. He was elected to various positions including Chief of Surgery and Chief of Medical Staff at AV Hospital. In addition to multiple medical staff appointments, he was a Trustee of the AV Healthcare District between 1980 and 1996. He served in various capacities including board Chairman.
While living in Park City, Harvey regularly attended grand rounds in neurosurgery at the University of Utah—and pushed the neurosurgeons to use their ophthalmoscopes and report the results of their patients' visual acuities and fields. Harvey prided himself in being a thinking neurosurgeon.
Before passing away in 2013, Harvey named UCSF a beneficiary of two retirement accounts. One-half of his bequest of nearly $1 million is being used for scholarships in the School of Medicine. The other half was used to help establish an endowed chair in Dr. Birsner's name in the Department of Ophthalmology.
When Harvey was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), he declined chemotherapy after the first dose made him too ill. Instead of chemotherapy, he ordered a case of his favorite wine, dined and entertained life-long friends, emailed everyone, and then finally passed away with his wife at his side.
Harvey is survived by his wife, two sisters and his brother, who is also an actively practicing physician in the AV. He is also survived by his two step-sisters, his step brother, and numerous other family and friends, as well as his many colleagues, who called him their friend. He is preceded in death by his parents and his adoptive father, Dr. J.W. Birsner, Sr.
Harvey was raised in Bakersfield, CA, and graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1958. In high school, Harvey was voted "least likely to succeed." How wrong they were...
Harvey was Chief of Neurosurgery at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital (USNH #5) in the late 1960s, which is where I met him. I was a Navy Nurse at the time, and spent most of my duty time on the enlisted men's neurosurgical unit at the hospital. These Marines (and some sailors) came to us fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, and were seriously wounded. Harvey was incredibly kind and exceptionally skilled. He was always willing to teach, as well. I learned so much from him. The nurses, corpsmen, and the injured men who were alert enough, all were grateful for his caring. I remember when a Marine I was especially close to was near death, Dr. Birsner was deeply pained that he could not do anything to save him.
When William F. Hoyt, MD '50, PhD, then a neuro-ophthalmologist in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery, accepted Harvey Birsner onto the Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship Program, he stipulated one condition: he had to read all volumes of Walsh & Hoyt's Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology before he could begin training. Harvey was happy to quickly comply. Dr Hoyt said that Harvey was the only neurosurgeon in the United States who could identify the retinal nerve fiber layer with an ophthalmoscope.
He was AV's first neurosurgeon and served on the medical staff of each of the Valley's hospitals. He was elected to various positions including Chief of Surgery and Chief of Medical Staff at AV Hospital. In addition to multiple medical staff appointments, he was a Trustee of the AV Healthcare District between 1980 and 1996. He served in various capacities including board Chairman.
While living in Park City, Harvey regularly attended grand rounds in neurosurgery at the University of Utah—and pushed the neurosurgeons to use their ophthalmoscopes and report the results of their patients' visual acuities and fields. Harvey prided himself in being a thinking neurosurgeon.
Before passing away in 2013, Harvey named UCSF a beneficiary of two retirement accounts. One-half of his bequest of nearly $1 million is being used for scholarships in the School of Medicine. The other half was used to help establish an endowed chair in Dr. Birsner's name in the Department of Ophthalmology.
When Harvey was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), he declined chemotherapy after the first dose made him too ill. Instead of chemotherapy, he ordered a case of his favorite wine, dined and entertained life-long friends, emailed everyone, and then finally passed away with his wife at his side.
Harvey is survived by his wife, two sisters and his brother, who is also an actively practicing physician in the AV. He is also survived by his two step-sisters, his step brother, and numerous other family and friends, as well as his many colleagues, who called him their friend. He is preceded in death by his parents and his adoptive father, Dr. J.W. Birsner, Sr.
Harvey was raised in Bakersfield, CA, and graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1958. In high school, Harvey was voted "least likely to succeed." How wrong they were...
Dr. Harvey Birsner, 72, a member of the Antelope Valley (AV) medical community for 41 years, passed away at his home. Dr. Birsner received his medical degree from University of California San Francisco, and his postgraduate neurosurgical training at Parkland Memorial Hospital, in Dallas. When Harvey passed away, the doors of the Santa Monica Drive-Thru Brain Surgery Center in Santa Monica, CA, closed forever.
Harvey was Chief of Neurosurgery at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital (USNH #5) in the late 1960s, which is where I met him. I was a Navy Nurse at the time, and spent most of my duty time on the enlisted men's neurosurgical unit at the hospital. These Marines (and some sailors) came to us fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, and were seriously wounded. Harvey was incredibly kind and exceptionally skilled. He was always willing to teach, as well. I learned so much from him. The nurses, corpsmen, and the injured men who were alert enough, all were grateful for his caring. I remember when a Marine I was especially close to was near death, Dr. Birsner was deeply pained that he could not do anything to save him.
When William F. Hoyt, MD '50, PhD, then a neuro-ophthalmologist in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery, accepted Harvey Birsner onto the Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship Program, he stipulated one condition: he had to read all volumes of Walsh & Hoyt's Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology before he could begin training. Harvey was happy to quickly comply. Dr Hoyt said that Harvey was the only neurosurgeon in the United States who could identify the retinal nerve fiber layer with an ophthalmoscope.
He was AV's first neurosurgeon and served on the medical staff of each of the Valley's hospitals. He was elected to various positions including Chief of Surgery and Chief of Medical Staff at AV Hospital. In addition to multiple medical staff appointments, he was a Trustee of the AV Healthcare District between 1980 and 1996. He served in various capacities including board Chairman.
While living in Park City, Harvey regularly attended grand rounds in neurosurgery at the University of Utah—and pushed the neurosurgeons to use their ophthalmoscopes and report the results of their patients' visual acuities and fields. Harvey prided himself in being a thinking neurosurgeon.
Before passing away in 2013, Harvey named UCSF a beneficiary of two retirement accounts. One-half of his bequest of nearly $1 million is being used for scholarships in the School of Medicine. The other half was used to help establish an endowed chair in Dr. Birsner's name in the Department of Ophthalmology.
When Harvey was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), he declined chemotherapy after the first dose made him too ill. Instead of chemotherapy, he ordered a case of his favorite wine, dined and entertained life-long friends, emailed everyone, and then finally passed away with his wife at his side.
Harvey is survived by his wife, two sisters and his brother, who is also an actively practicing physician in the AV. He is also survived by his two step-sisters, his step brother, and numerous other family and friends, as well as his many colleagues, who called him their friend. He is preceded in death by his parents and his adoptive father, Dr. J.W. Birsner, Sr.
Harvey was raised in Bakersfield, CA, and graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1958. In high school, Harvey was voted "least likely to succeed." How wrong they were...
Harvey was Chief of Neurosurgery at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital (USNH #5) in the late 1960s, which is where I met him. I was a Navy Nurse at the time, and spent most of my duty time on the enlisted men's neurosurgical unit at the hospital. These Marines (and some sailors) came to us fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, and were seriously wounded. Harvey was incredibly kind and exceptionally skilled. He was always willing to teach, as well. I learned so much from him. The nurses, corpsmen, and the injured men who were alert enough, all were grateful for his caring. I remember when a Marine I was especially close to was near death, Dr. Birsner was deeply pained that he could not do anything to save him.
When William F. Hoyt, MD '50, PhD, then a neuro-ophthalmologist in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery, accepted Harvey Birsner onto the Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship Program, he stipulated one condition: he had to read all volumes of Walsh & Hoyt's Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology before he could begin training. Harvey was happy to quickly comply. Dr Hoyt said that Harvey was the only neurosurgeon in the United States who could identify the retinal nerve fiber layer with an ophthalmoscope.
He was AV's first neurosurgeon and served on the medical staff of each of the Valley's hospitals. He was elected to various positions including Chief of Surgery and Chief of Medical Staff at AV Hospital. In addition to multiple medical staff appointments, he was a Trustee of the AV Healthcare District between 1980 and 1996. He served in various capacities including board Chairman.
While living in Park City, Harvey regularly attended grand rounds in neurosurgery at the University of Utah—and pushed the neurosurgeons to use their ophthalmoscopes and report the results of their patients' visual acuities and fields. Harvey prided himself in being a thinking neurosurgeon.
Before passing away in 2013, Harvey named UCSF a beneficiary of two retirement accounts. One-half of his bequest of nearly $1 million is being used for scholarships in the School of Medicine. The other half was used to help establish an endowed chair in Dr. Birsner's name in the Department of Ophthalmology.
When Harvey was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), he declined chemotherapy after the first dose made him too ill. Instead of chemotherapy, he ordered a case of his favorite wine, dined and entertained life-long friends, emailed everyone, and then finally passed away with his wife at his side.
Harvey is survived by his wife, two sisters and his brother, who is also an actively practicing physician in the AV. He is also survived by his two step-sisters, his step brother, and numerous other family and friends, as well as his many colleagues, who called him their friend. He is preceded in death by his parents and his adoptive father, Dr. J.W. Birsner, Sr.
Harvey was raised in Bakersfield, CA, and graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1958. In high school, Harvey was voted "least likely to succeed." How wrong they were...
