Frank Paino, M.D.

 
Name at birth:   Francesco Paino 
Date of birth:   14 April, 1927 
Place of birth:  Messina, Italy 
Date of death:   3 August, 1990 
Place of death:  Cleveland, Ohio USA 
Place of burial: Municipal Cemetery of
                 Lipari, Messina, Italy

This memorial is dedicated with love and admiration to a man whose spirit must surely be numbered among the truly great. We, his children, establish this site in order to render homage to our father-- a man whose stature will always be, in our eyes, god-like. Few people walk this earth with the intellect, courage, humour and strength he possessed. He was, in all respects, a remarkable human being.

Our father adored us as much as we adored him. Such love never dies. We set before his tomb two flames which will burn eternally in his honour.

 
      PAPA, WHEREVER YOU ARE   
      WE NEED TO KNOW YOU'RE SMILING 
      BECAUSE, IN SPITE OF ALL YOUR  
      HEART'S WINTERS,   
      YOU HAVE EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE   
      IN SHADOWS SHEDDING, LIKE THE FIRST FLOWERS    
      OF SPRING RISING FROM DARK GRAVES    
      TOWARDS THE BENEDICTION OF SUNLIGHT,    
      BRUSHING THE ICE WITH FIRE.   
   
                   -- Frank & Gerrie

Frank Paino was born in Messina, Italy on 14 April, 1927. He attended the University of Messina where he was graduated with the highest honours in 1949. From 1949 to 1951 he served as a Medical Officer in the Italian Air Force. In 1953, Frank came to the United States of America to pursue his dream of becoming the best physician he could possibly be. At a time when many foreigners were regarded with some degree of suspicion, he had the fortitude to overlook prejudice and forge new paths in medicine. His erudition, creativity and determination to expand the frontiers of anesthesiology quickly earned him the respect and support of his colleagues.

By the early 1960's, Frank Paino began to focus on the true love of his life. He created a small Intensive Care Unit at Fairview General Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. From humble beginnings, the Unit grew to be renowned as a place always on the forefront of modern technology, owing primarily to Dr. Paino's unceasing dedication to the Unit and the patients it served.

In 1973, Frank was elected Chairman of Fairview General Hospital's Department of Anesthesiology and in 1975 he was named Director of the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. He maintained both positions until his death in 1990. In addition, he served as President of both the Medical Staff and Fairview Medical Associates. He was also on the Board of Trustees.

Frank was instrumental is establishing the cardiac surgery program at Fairview Hospital and he played a large role in the planning and constuction of the hospital's Surgery Center.

On 3 August, 1990, Frank Paino left this world with the elegance and courage with which he had lived.

A brilliant physician, an insightful and determined man, Frank Paino is remembered by all who knew him as being well ahead of his time. He was a man unafraid of taking chances in order to save his patients. Having suffered quietly and bravely with serious health problems for nearly twenty years, Frank was eminently capable of empathizing with his patients and their families. Countless people were touched by his grace, skill and caring. He was posthumously awarded the prestigious Development for Progress Award in September of 1990, and Fairview General Hospital continues to benefit from an Endowment Fund established in his memory, contributions being earmarked for his beloved Intensive Care Unit.

There are literally hundreds of people alive today because they were fortunate enough to have been delivered into the caring and capable hands of Dr. Frank Paino.


      HE IS MADE ONE WITH NATURE:  THERE IS HEARD    
      HIS VOICE IN ALL HER MUSIC, FROM THE MOAN   
      OF THUNDER, TO THE SONG OF NIGHT'S SWEET BIRD;   
      HE IS A PRESENCE TO BE FELT AND KNOWN   
      IN DARKNESS AND IN LIGHT, FROM HERB AND STONE,    
      SPREADING ITSELF WHERE'ER THAT POWER MAY MOVE  
      WHICH HAS WITHDRAWN HIS BEING TO ITS OWN;   
      WHICH WIELDS THE WORLD WITH NEVER-WEARIED LOVE,    
      SUSTAINS IN FROM BENEATH, AND KINDLES IT ABOVE.   
     
                     -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Click here to visit the Memorial to Linda Paino.

We would like to thank those visitors who have left flowers.