A newly renovated hospital wing at Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus was dedicated Wednesday in memory of a “visionary” orthopaedic surgeon and his physician wife who were killed two years ago in an automobile accident.
James Wenz Jr. and his sister, Adrianna, cut the ribbon officially opening the Wenz Orthopaedic Unit, named for their late parents, Dr. James Wenz and Dr. Lidia Wenz.
James Wenz Sr. was the head of orthopedics and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the School of Medicine, and Lidia Wenz was a child psychiatrist and instructor. The family was involved in a car crash along Interstate 83 in January 2004, which the two children survived.
The 10-room orthopedic wing was Wenz?s vision, said Dr. John Wilckens, the hospital?s orthopaedics chief. The couches, big-screen televisions, refrigerators and dark, hardwood floors were intended to provide extra comfort and ease to patients who have recently undergone joint replacement surgery.
“I wouldn?t say it?s like a Jiffy Lube, but the idea?s similar in that you come in, have your surgery and leave the hospital a few days later,” Wilckens said. Fred Wenz, James Wenz?s father, also was present for the ribbon-cutting. Afterward, he went from room to room, hoping to choose his favorite: He will be one of the first patients on the ward when it opens next week.
Wilckens said James Wenz had accomplished much for his relative youth, having celebrated his 40th birthday just two months before the fatal crash. He performed hundreds of hip-replacement surgeries using a much smaller, 4-inch incision instead of the standard 10 to 12 inches.
