Surgeon who performed Ruth Bader Ginsburg's lung surgery is 'a total powerhouse'

On Friday, it was announced that 85-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove two malignant cancer nodules in one of her lungs at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. (People on the internet offered their own lungs to help.)

And just who did Notorious RBG charge with her care? Another woman who is used to shattering ceilings and succeeding against all odds, of course.

Valerie W. Rusch, MD, the attending surgeon of thoracic service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, was one of the first women in the country to be board certified in thoracic surgery and specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the lungs, airways, esophagus, mediastinum and chest. 

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“I use the highest level of technological expertise to treat our patients,” she says in her biography on the Sloan-Kettering site. “But I also believe in a hands-on, person-to-person approach to ensure that my patients receive the best possible care.”

Much like Ginsberg, Rusch has an extensive list of accolades. The New York native is the chair of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, a regent of the American College of Surgeons, and chair of the Lung and Esophagus Task Force of the American Joint Committee on Cancer. And after her 25 years in the field, the American College of Surgeons awarded her with the 2018 Distinguished Service Award, the college’s highest honor.

“She is brilliant, uncompromising, generous, and kind. A total powerhouse,” tweeted one doctor who works with Rusch. “I love the idea of Dr. Rusch and #RBG having a chat on rounds.”

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