Dr Malcolm S. Beinfield

Nationally Recognized Doctor

Malcolm S. Beinfield, 84, a longtime Westport physician and surgeon, died February 20 at his home in Westport. Dr Beinfield, Westport’s first board-certified surgeon, had been ill for some time. Born March 24, 1921, he was the son of the former Jennie Joseloff of East Norwalk and Henry Beinfield of Brooklyn, N.Y.

In addition to his wife of 60 years, Marjorie, Dr Beinfield is survived by four children, Dr Lynn Beinfield of Newtown, Harriet Beinfield of San Francisco, Elizabeth Falsey of Norwalk, Bruce Beinfield of Norwalk, and an “adopted” son, John Edoga, a native of Nigeria who took up residence with the Beinfields at the age of 18 to pursue a career in medicine. Eight grandchildren also survive him, including David Roodhuyzen, Newtown High School Class of 2001 and Becca Roodhuyzen, Newtown High School Class of 1998.

At one point Dr Beinfield headed a Westport practice that included four physicians, a staff of 20, and had 543,000 patient charts. He was also sideline doctor to the Staples High School football team from 1951 to 1989, never missing a game.

Dr Beinfield was recognized nationally for his medical activities and research. In 1976 he founded the first community-based surgical residency program for physician assistants (PAs.) He taught at Yale as an associate clinical professor of surgery and was on the faculty of King’s College, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Quinnipiac, and George Washington University School of Medicine. Dr Beinfield was former assistant chief of staff at Norwalk Hospital. For 12 years he was a director of Physicians Health Services of Connecticut where he helped set medical policy for the HMO.

He was widely published in medical journals and was an early advocate for breast-conserving surgery in trials at Yale. In data collected over 20 years he found there was no survival advantage of mastectomy over lumpectomy.

From the time that Dr Beinfield moved to his Hockanum Road home in Westport in 1952, he was a devoted gardener, raising thousands of rhododendrons and azaleas from his own cuttings. His garden was visited by hundreds of admirers and was filmed by Martha Stewart. He was elected to the board of the state arboretum in 1995.

With his wife, Dr Beinfield was a lifelong supporter of equal rights and social justice.

A memorial service will be held Friday, February 24, at 2 pm at the Unitarian Church, 10 Lyons Plains Road, Westport.

The family requests donations be made in Dr Beinfield’s memory to The Aku Project, 177 Madison Avenue, Morristown NJ 07960, which will help bring water to the people of his adoptive son’s village.

The Newtown Bee        February 24, 2006