Ed Iliff
(1947 - 2017)

Dr. Ed Iliff passed away on December 11th of natural causes in his home in La Jolla. He leaves a legacy of being the critical architect of the Emergency Department of Scripps Memorial Hospital – La Jolla as well as being a highly successful businessman and inventor of FirstOpinion - a product that automates diagnosing.

Ed was one of the early pioneers in emergency medicine before the specialty was really recognized. He joined Scripps in 1976 and was instrumental in creating the new “Department” of Emergency Medicine and then through his leadership over many years built that department. He put his soul into hiring the very best physicians and worked with the nurses and hospital to deliver the highest possible quality of care.

In addition to being the Director of the Emergency Department, he started a highly successful company. In the early 80’s when computers were just beginning, he become convinced that diagnosing was logical and therefore computable. His pursuit over 20 years resulted in personally creating over 50 patents and the development of a prototype program that returned diagnoses when fed symptoms. Hoping to leverage this product into a universally accessible product, he sold his prototype and patents to a public company. When the buyer failed to execute, he attempted to buy his product back so that it could be freely available to everyone.

Despite his stage-worthy sense of humor, he always preferred to remain in the background deflecting credit for his work to others. Even at the elaborate parties he would host for the department, he would often leave early to avoid the limelight. Though he remained single, preferring to dedicate his life to his profession, he leaves behind a family of emergency physicians, nurses and staff who look up to him as a Father. He will be missed.

Though his family has elected to have a small private service, all are encouraged to leave their thoughts and comments in the guest book or light a candle in his memory.