Longtime Stanford Nurse Uses Her Trust to Give Back

Elaine Housten witnessed many firsts during her 43 years as a nurse at Stanford. She worked primarily as a surgical nurse at the adult hospital and assisted with the first successful human heart transplant in the United States in 1968, performed by famous heart surgeon Norman E. Shumway, MD, PhD.

“I felt like I was involved in cutting-edge surgery as a nurse,” she says.

Elaine’s remarkable career began in Toronto, Canada, where she worked with William Mustard, MD, at the Hospital for Sick Children. Mustard developed the Mustard procedure in 1963 to correct a congenital heart defect called “blue baby syndrome.” She then moved to Palo Alto to work at Stanford and met her late husband, Sam Housten.

When Elaine delivered their son, Alexander, at Stanford, she experienced what it was like to be a patient versus a caregiver. “Everything went fine until he was born, and we noticed he wasn’t breathing properly,” she says.

Alexander was whisked to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where doctors discovered he had a diaphragmatic hernia, an opening in his diaphragm that caused his intestines to move into his chest. At the time, only 10% of babies born with this condition survived, Elaine explains. At only 90 minutes old, Alexander received lifesaving surgery from Gary Hartman, MD, MBA, and Stephen Shochat, MD, who closed the opening.

“The people in the NICU couldn’t have been nicer,” Elaine says. “The doctors stopped and talked. As a parent, I couldn’t have had better support.”

To Elaine’s delight, Alexander went home 11 days later and didn’t experience any other complications. “Today he’s 44 and absolutely doing terrific,” says the proud mom.

Elaine was so grateful for her son’s exceptional care and outcome that, years later, she wanted to give back. After talking with her financial adviser, Elaine decided to donate through a charitable remainder trust (CRT). Her CRT provides Elaine with income during her lifetime, and the balance will go to the charities she chooses, including Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, after she passes away.

“It’s growing! What I originally put in will be much bigger than when I first decided to do this,” says Elaine, now 81.

Elaine’s gift is designated to pediatric surgery in honor of Alexander and her years working in the operating room. Elaine hopes it will lead to future medical breakthroughs. “There will always be new things on the horizon,” she says. “The movement in medicine is tremendous. Every day, it’s amazing.”

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