In Memory of Ellis Jones, MD

Ellis L. Jones, MD, 68, a world renowned Cardiothoracic Surgeon passed away on February 6, 2007 at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia following a prolonged battle with lung cancer.

An Atlanta native, Dr. Jones received his medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine in 1963.  He started his General Surgery Residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.  In 1965, he moved to the Division of Cardiorespiratory Physiology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.  From 1966-1967, Ellis served with the Second Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Vietnam, before returning in 1968 to John Hopkins to complete his residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery under Dr. Alfred Blalock.

Dr. Jones returned to Atlanta in 1972 to help develop the Emory Cardiothoracic Surgical Program under the direction of Dr. Charles R. Hatcher, a past President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, 1987.

In August of 1977, on the back of a Tiffany clock that was presented to Ellis, was the inscription by Charles Hatcher, MD, then Chief of Emory Cardiothoracic Surgery.  "To Ellis Jones on the occasion of performing 350 consecutive and successful open heart procedures without a single death with the admiration of the whole group."

In 2001, the Atlanta Heart Ball honored its honoree, Dr. Ellis L. Jones, by the quotation, "an internationally respected cardiac surgeon who has saved numerous lives with his expertise, Dr. Jones says when asked to enumerate his accomplishments, 'a lot of people have contributed to the success of Emory's heart program.'"  Without question, Dr. Jones has played a major role in helping Emory achieve that success.  When he came to Emory in 1972, surgeons at the hospital were performing only 3 heart operations a week; today, Emory performs over 2,000 adult and over 700 pediatric heart surgeries per year, and it’s heart program is the third largest among U.S. academic centers in terms of volume.

In addition to his formidable surgical talents, Dr. Jones displayed congeniality, warmth and compassion – traits greatly appreciated by the patients whose hearts he has touched.  Dr. Jones' clinical research interests included using arterial grafts for coronary bypass operations, the use of cryopreserved human heart valves in high-risk patients, and the prevention of stroke during heart operations.  Ellis developed a set of surgical instruments, the "Jones Internal Mammary Artery vascular instruments," for performance of small arterial grafting.

Dr. John D. Puskas, Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory, said about Dr. Jones, "Elllis Jones was one of the great academic cardiac surgeons of his generation.  An uncompromising  perfectionist in the OR, his surgical technique will always be held up as an example to be emulated by the scores of surgical residents he trained, myself among them.  Ellis was also a mentor of startling vision; it was he who first encouraged me to explore the possibilities that off-pump coronary bypass might offer – before a single case had been performed in the southeastern United States.  He was among the first in the nation to embrace stentless aortic valve replacement and to identify the important technical challenges that it posed.  He conclusively demonstrated the importance of complete revascularization from long-term survival after coronary bypass.  His contributions to our field were important and lasting.  His memory as a mentor, colleague and friend will be cherished."  Ellis will be greatly missed!

Dr. Jones is survived by his wife of 46 years, Beth Coleman Jones, daughters Mary Ellen Jones Klinger, Leslie Elisabeth Jones Wierman, and son Ellis Leroy Jones, Jr., and 5 grandchildren.

Kamal A. Mansour, MD
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Emory University Clinic
Atlanta, GA, USA