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Victor Coffman, M.D. |
During the American Civil War, Dr. Coffman served as a commissioned assistant surgeon, U.S. Army in 1862, and as surgeon of the regiment, later chief medical officer, 13th Army Corps in 1863. In 1865, he was made a commissioned brevet-lieutenant colonel.
Dr. Coffman came to Omaha in 1867, where he practiced medicine and surgery until his death. In 1871, he served as president of the Omaha Medical Society, authoring its “Fee Bill” (standardized pricing list for medical procedures). In 1872, he was one of the organizers and secretary of the Nebraska State Medical Society, serving as its president in 1884.
Dr. Coffman was one of the organizers of the Omaha Medical College in 1881 and served the college as professor of theory and practice of medicine from 1882-1887, as well as president of the college’s board of trustees from 1882-1884. Dr. Coffman was an early advocate for a state board of health and served as Omaha’s city health commissioner from 1900-1902.
He was noted for providing free health care for the poor in Omaha. Dr. Coffman’s obituary in the “Omaha World-Herald” said, “His practice, from choice, was largely among the poor, and the thought of money was the last thing to enter his mind. During the first 20 years of his practice in Omaha, his books showed unpaid accounts amounting to more than $100,000.”
In 1879, Dr. Coffman married Rose Devoto, and they had four children. He died in Omaha in 1908 and, along with his wife and several generations of his descendants, is buried in Holy Sepulchre cemetery, located just west of the UNMC campus along Leavenworth Street.
The Coffman family occupies a section on the east-facing slope of a hill overlooking the UNMC campus, so one could say that Dr. Coffman has a continuous “view” of the growth and progress of the institution which he helped to found.
Thank You. Local medical history is fascinating . R.Olesh,MD