Harry V. Sims

Who was Harry V. Sims?

Harry Vernon Sims, Sr., was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a president of the New Orleans Obstetrical and Gynecological Society who published numerous research articles on gynecology.

Dr.Sims was born in Terrebonne Parish in southern Louisiana to Robert Nicholls Sims, Jr., and the former Nita Dalferes. He grew to adulthood in Donaldsonville, the seat of Ascension Parish near Baton Rouge. He was educated at the Bingham Military Institute in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1911, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He received his medical degree in 1915 from Tulane University in New Orleans and served his internship at Charity Hospital there.

Dr.Sims entered the United States Navy the same month that the United States declared war on the Central Powers: April 1917. He served in France with the Second Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry.

He returned to civilian life in 1919 and opened his gynecological practice in New Orleans, where he also was on the staff of Charity Hospital, often called "Big Charity". He was named the president of the surgical division in 1935. He also served on the staffs of Baptist Hospital and Touro Infirmary in New Orleans. Dr.Sims was appointed professor of clinical gynecology on the original faculty of LSU Medical School and taught in New Orleans until 1938. He had become assistant surgeon in 1924 with New Orleans Public Service, Inc., and he was designated chief surgeon from 1951-1961.