Today, I will review the spiritual and professional influences that encouraged me to challenge the medical care system, particularly with the subsequent development of a prototype ambulatory cardiac hospital which I established in 1972 as the Virginia Heart Institute. The initial purpose of this facility was to validate the safety and cost effectiveness of outpatient cardiac catheterization as a possible solution for the 4,000 U.S. citizens who either have cardiac arrest or myocardial infarction on a daily basis.

I was born on August 7, 1931, at Stuart Circle Hospital in Richmond, and my father had entered the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1929 upon his graduation from the Medical College of Virginia. We were subsequently stationed and transferred from Walter Reed Hospital (Washington, DC), Fort Benning (Georgia) and Schofield Barracks (Oahu, Hawaii). Interestingly enough, in Oahu, I was observed at the age of five to attend church unescorted and this could be construed as an early sign of spiritualism. However, this interpretation, naturally, could be argued. My first recollection of an increased awareness of my concern for others, occurred one late, chilly afternoon near Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC when I rescued a lost child. The memory of this event has been pivotal in my desire to promote public health activities in spite of criticism that continues to exist today. Interestingly enough, Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, present chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia, established a chair for the cardiovascular division to promote innovative cardiology after he explained that many of the projects I initiated were scoffed at but now accepted. He suggested that the chair that was established three years previously be entitled the Dr. Charles L. Baird, Jr. Chair for Innovative Cardiology.