Ellington

Not many can say their work has touched thousands of hearts—literally.

But for Dr. Richard Morrison, who performs more than 450 open heart procedures each year, it’s just another day at the office. Each complex procedure spans four to five hours, underscoring the sheer volume of his practice on staff at Memorial Hospital. While Morrison rarely gets home before 9 or 10 p.m. each night, he considers his profession a privilege. “I never dread going to work,” says Morrison. “I’m able to give people their lives back, and that’s very gratifying.”

Now, a behind-the-scenes documentary scheduled to be webcast this month will shadow Morrison as he replaces an elderly woman’s aortic valve with a bovine pericardial valve, or “cow valve.” The first-ever online viewing of open-heart surgery in Chattanooga will be shown at the Chattanooga Times Free Press website on Sept. 15 through a partnership with Memorial. Following the procedure, viewers can ask Morrison questions about the procedure during a live Web chat.

Memorial is launching its “Life in the OR” series “to provide the community a glimpse into the operating room, and a bird’s-eye view of actual procedures,” says Lisa McCluskey, Memorial’s vice president of marketing. “It is truly remarkable to see a human heart suspended while being repaired, and then brought back to life and functioning normally again. I recommend the webcast for those who are curious about open-heart surgery, those who have been through a procedure or are about to undergo surgery. It will forever change the way you think about your heart.”

Growing up in Johnson City, Tenn., Morrison never imagined becoming a heart surgeon. In fact, when he first entered East Tennessee State University, he declared aerospace engineering as a major. As fate would have it, a friend convinced him to consider pre-med and “it just sort of evolved from there,” he says. Today, he resists the temptation to pursue a pilot’s license in his sliver of spare time. Flying, much like heart surgery, leaves little room for mediocrity, he says.

Instead of a swath of blue sky, Morrison finds himself in a sea of blue scrubs and surgical drapes most days. Machines beep and hum as he nimbly maneuvers around a gaggle of instruments and tubes, all protruding from a work area not much bigger than a fist. A typical day means two to three open heart surgeries, and that doesn’t include office time with patients, making rounds at the hospital or his duties as medical director for Memorial Health Care System’s Regional Heart Center.

Unfortunately, the majority of Morrison’s patients find themselves on the operating table due to lifestyle choices. Smoking, obesity and unchecked hypertension are frequent factors. And despite a multitude of outdoor activities and a nationally recognized farmer’s market, Chattanooga isn’t winning any awards for healthy living. According to Circulation: A Journal of the American Heart Association, Tennessee has one of the highest death rates from cardiovascular disease in the country, ranking 45 out of 52 states and territories (including Puerto Rico and District of Columbia).

Of course, not all heart patients are products of poor lifestyle choices. “Many treatments of diseases are complicated by multiple health problems,” notes McCluskey. “Patients have short hospital stays and go on to live active, vibrant lifestyles. Our goal is simple. By creating awareness of the causes and symptoms of certain diseases, people may begin to take the first step toward lifestyle changes and prevention.”