Copyright M Live Michigan
SAGINAW, MI — A world-famous neurosurgeon who made significant and lasting contributions to the medical field, Dr. E. Malcolm Field of Saginaw, has died. Field died peacefully on Monday, Nov. 3, at the age of 95, according to a statement from MyMichigan Health officials. Field treated more than 315,000 patients and performed nearly 60,000 surgeries in his career as a neurosurgeon, which began more than 65 years ago. During his medical career, Field served as the chief of staff at St. Mary’s of Saginaw hospital, which is now MyMichigan Medical Center Saginaw. He began working at the hospital in 1961. Field was also affiliated with hospitals in Bay City, Midland, Flint, Alma, Tawas City, Alpena, West Branch, and Standish. Beyond just treating patients, Field dedicated much of his life to advancing medicine through donations and other contributions to neuroscience care and trauma medicine. Additionally, Field worked to remove financial barriers for patients by helping them find ways to pay for crucial surgeries, according to the Saginaw Valley State University website. A donation from Field’s family allowed for the creation of the Field Neurosciences Institute (FNI), located at 4677 Towne Centre Road Suite 101 in Saginaw Township. The institute is a non-profit organization focused on funding clinical care, research, and education programs. “Dr. Field created FNI on a foundation of compassion, innovation and faith,” FNI Executive Director Shari Kosciuszko said in a statement. “He believed the true purpose of medicine is not only to treat illness, but to restore hope and dignity to every patient.” In addition to being the institute’s founder, Field served as its medical director. The institute has been credited with advancing work on Huntington’s disease through a partnership with the University of California-Davis. “Dr. Field is the founder of neurosurgery in mid and north Michigan,” FNI Medical Director Joseph Adel, M.D., said in a statement. “His legacy will live through FNI which is dedicated to the prevention, early diagnosis, care and cure of neurological disease, disorders and other injuries. This legacy will be carried on by the exemplary neurosurgery service at MyMichigan Medical Center Saginaw where he laid the foundation.” Field also had close ties to SVSU, and he donated $3 million toward the establishment of the university’s Clifford H. Spicer Endowed Chair in Engineering and the E. Malcolm Field Endowed Chair in Health Science, according to the SVSU website. Additionally, he established the Patricia A. Hansel Memorial Scholarship and Neurosciences Institute Scholarship in Neuroscience Nursing, which provide assistance for nursing students at SVSU. Field received SVSU’s Distinguished Service Award in 2023 for his contributions to the field of medicine and his community, SVSU President George Grant Jr. said in a statement. “We appreciate Dr. Field’s extraordinary generosity to SVSU and his unwavering faith in the value of a college education,” Grant said. “We are thankful for his friendship.” A man of many talents, Field was also a musician and the namesake of the Malcolm Field Theatre for Performing Arts at SVSU. “Our Malcolm Field Theatre for Performing Arts will serve as one enduring feature of his legacy of improving the lives of others,” Grant said. Born and raised on a farm in Brighton, Field earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1956 and went on to complete a general surgery residency at the former Saginaw General Hospital, which is now Covenant Medical Center Harrison. He also received honorary doctorates from SVSU and Spring Arbor University, according to the MyMichigan Health website. Field was board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and his Michigan medical license was set to remain active through 2027. Visitation for Field will take place from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, at W.L. Case and Company Funeral Homes, located at 4480 Mackinaw in Saginaw Township. Field’s funeral will be private.
