Third generation continues practicing
CENTRAL CITY - Being a doctor is in Bruce Koefoot’s blood, so much so that he not ready to retire full time. Originally from Broken Bow, Dr. Koefoot is now practicing part-time at the Merrick Medical Center in Central City.
Koefoot is the third generation of doctors in his family. “My grandfather, uncle and father were all doctors,” he said. His parents were Richard and Dorothy Koefoot of Broken Bow.
His grandfather Theodore practiced medicine in Broken Bow in the 1930s. His uncle Theodore and his father Richard also were doctors in Broken Bow, leaving the area in the 70s and 80s.
Koefoot followed family tradition, though he felt no pressure to do so.
“I knew it was what I wanted to do,” he told the Chief in a phone interview. “It was going to be in plastic surgery or urology, some sort of surgerycal field.”
He chose urology. After graduating from high school in Broken Bow he attended the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, receiving his medical degree in 1977. He completed surgical and urology training at the University of Virginia Medical Center and Duke University Medical Center and then practiced in Knoxville, Tenn. from 1983-2005.
In 2005, he returned to Nebraska to practice urology in Grand Island. He’s been semi-retired for four years now. In March he began seeing patients at Merrick Medical Center in Central City.
“Growing up in a rural community, I see these communities that need these types of expertise,” Dr. Koefoot said. “I don’t want patients to have to drive to Omaha and Lincoln. They can get treatment here.”
He also explained that a fellow doctor advised him to not quit medicine “cold turkey” and to ease into retirement. “He was right,” Koefoot said. “I enjoy what I’m doing. I’ll continue for a while.”
Koefoot sees patients not only in Central City but also in Lexington and Holdrege through Rural Partners in Medicine.
His wife, Julie Doty Koefoot, died in 2011. Koefoot lives in Grand Island and his children live in Tennessee.
Koefoot says he gets back to Broken Bow often. He’ll be here in July for his class reunion. He graduated Broken Bow High School in 1970 and his 50th class reunion was postponed from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.