Jorge Kaplán
Jorge Sergio Kaplán Meyer is a Chilean politician, who served as mayor of Viña Del Mar.
He was a pioneer in heart transplants in his country and Latin America, performed at the Almirante Nef Naval Hospital in Viña del Mar.
In 1992, in recognition of his career and his contribution to the development of medicine in the country, the University of Valparaíso awarded him the distinction of honorary professor.
Biography
Kaplán studied medicine at the University of Chile, graduating in 1951. He spent much of his professional career in the Valparaíso Region.He practiced as a surgeon at the Carlos Van Buren Hospital in Valparaíso; in the Department of Surgery at the Sanatorio de Valparaíso; at the Dr. Gustavo Fricke Hospital in Viña del Mar; at the Almirante Nef Naval Hospital in Viña del Mar; and at the Reñaca Clinic.
Kaplán also served as president of the National Transplant Corporation of the Ministry of Health, and as a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile in Valparaíso, current University of Valparaíso.
On 28 June 1968, Kaplán led the medical team that performed the first heart transplant in the history of Chile at the Almirante Nef Naval Hospital on 24-year-old patient María Elena Peñaloza, a native of Panquehue, who received the heart of 21-year-old Gabriel Véliz, who had died of a brain tumor, marking a milestone in Latin American medical history.