In memoriam: Dr. Alexander Hadjipavlou

The leaders and staff of the Jewish General Hospital University Health Centre are saddened by the passing of Dr. Alexander Hadjipavlou, 85, who served as Chief of the Department of Orthopedics from 1978 to 1991.

Known as a passionate surgeon and teacher, Dr. Hadjipavlou, who died in Greece on June 17, demonstrated his devotion to the well-being of his patients by bringing numerous improvements to his department.

Notably, he developed an Osteo‑metabolic Clinic, which enhanced the quality of diagnosis and treatment, and was used in training orthopedic residents and fellows.

He also introduced advanced diagnostic imaging of the spine, as well as treatment techniques for complicated degenerative diseases and tumours involving the spine.

As a result, Dr. Hadjipavlou significantly strengthened the foundations of his department and enabled it to go on to achieve excellence in later decades.

For example, in September, a survey by Newsweek magazine rated the JGH as the leading hospital in Montreal for orthopedics. Newsweek’s annual survey recognized the JGH among the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2027, with top-tier rankings nationally and locally in orthopedics, neurology, oncology and cardiology.

Born in Ethiopia, Dr. Hadjipavlou received his medical degree from the University of Greece in 1965. After a year of education in orthopedic surgery, he arrived in Montreal in 1966, completed his residency at McGill University.

In 1977, he began his affiliation with the JGH as an attending orthopedic surgeon, while serving in a similar capacity until 1978 at the Santa Cabrini Hospital, the Reddy Memorial Hos and the Queen Mary Veterans’ Hospital.

Soon after stepping down as Chief in 1991, Dr. Hadjipavlou moved to the United States, where he became Professor of Orthopedics at the University of Arizona and later at the University of Texas at Galveston.

Later in his career, he returned to Greece to help improve the quality of the country’s orthopedic care—specifically, on the island of Crete. There, at the University General Hospital of Heraklion, he served as Chief of Orthopedics and as a Professor at the university.

So significant was his contribution that the hospital honoured him by naming its spinal surgery unit after him. Until his death in Crete, he maintained close ties with colleagues and friends in Canada and the U.S. He is survived by his daughter and son, and two grandchildren.

In an interview with JGH News in 1980, Dr. Hadjipavlou stated that his life-long determination was “to show people that orthopedics is not merely carpentry—it’s more than just treating fractures.”

Rather, he said, he regarded bones as intrinsic parts of the whole person—“a living structure and not merely a frame.”