Dr. Edison Banfield
Dr. Edison Banfield was born on June 25, 1924 in Maryland, but his family moved to Ohio and New Jersey when he was a youngster. His father, an ordained minister, and his mother emigrated from Barbados. Both encouraged Dr. Banfield and his three siblings to go to college.
As a child, Dr. Banfield attended integrated public schools. Immediately after high school, he joined the army. Upon completing his service, he decided to follow his brother Michael on the path to a career in medicine. At Howard University, he earned an undergraduate degree in Chemistry (1950) and graduated from medical school (1954). He completed his residency in general surgery at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D. C. Dr. Banfield became board certified in surgery.
In 1960, Dr. Banfield moved to Houston because his bother was in practice there and he liked the warm weather. The opportunities provided to African-American physicians by the Houston Negro Hospital (later known as Riverside General Hospital) and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital also were a great attraction.
Dr. Banfield launched a successful practice on Blodgett Street in the Third Ward with Dr. Joseph Gathe, a fellow surgeon, relying on referrals from Dr. Michael Banfield and other local physicians. Together, Dr. Banfield and Dr. Gathe performed groundbreaking surgeries at several Houston hospitals. At Riverside General Hospital in 1963, for example, they corrected an infant’s congenital atresia of the colon, a condition in which invading tissue had obstructed the intestines. Their outstanding work was recognized in an article in American Surgeon.
Following the integration of the medical staffs at Houston’s other hospitals in the mid- and late-1960s, Dr. Banfield obtained privileges at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Citizens General Hospital, Methodist Hospital, and Ben Taub Hospital. When illness caused Dr. Banfield’s hands to lose the necessary strength for surgery, he continued working as a general practitioner for several years before retirement.
Next Biography: Dr. Michael Banfield
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