“It's A Bargain” Thrift Shop - Orthopaedic Hospital

Dr. Hoffer Retires
as Lowman Professor
After 14 years with Orthopædic
Hospital, M. Mark Hoffer, MD has
retired as Lowman professor. Dr.
Hoffer headed children’s orthopaedics,
bringing world-renowned skill
and tireless enthusiasm to the job. He remains a
visiting professor in clinical orthopaedics at the
University of Southern California and director of
children’s orthopaedics for Los Angeles County.
“It’s been a privilege to be a
Lowman professor,” Dr. Hoffer
said. “Orthopædic Hospital has
been a marvelous experience.”
Dr. Hoffer’s association with
Orthopædic Hospital began after
his orthopedic training when
he accepted a hand fellowship
because of his interest in disorders
of the upper extremities
in children. He also served as
chairman of orthopaedics at the
University of California, Irvine.
“Orthopædic Hospital was
very fortunate when Mark
decided to join us 13 years ago,”
said James V. Luck Jr., MD, president, CEO and
medical director. “In addition to being a gifted
surgeon, he is a great humanitarian and leader
who generated the respect of all he touched.”
Among the highlights of his years at OH, Dr.
Hoffer cited the opportunity to work with great
physicians, the construction of the Outpatient
Medical Center, the opening of the Orthopædic
Hospital Research Center on the UCLA campus
and meeting the UCLA faculty as part of the alliance
between the two organizations.
Most of all, Dr. Hoffer said, the new
Orthopædic Hospital at Santa Monica–UCLA
Medical Center offers the opportunity to involve
other specialists when complications arise in
young patients. “Whenever we had a kid with a
complex problem outside orthopaedics, we had
M. Mark Hoffer, MD
to be resourceful,” he said. “The new hospital will
make a big difference.”
Dr. Hoffer was inspired to become a doctor as
a boy when many classmates contracted polio over
summer vacation and became disabled. He remembers
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s struggle
with polio, a disease that struck him as an adult.
Dr. Hoffer served in the Navy as a medical
officer on a submarine during the Cuban missile
crisis and trained at U.S.
Naval Hospital. He served 48
years in the Navy Reserve and
was recalled to active duty on
several occasions. He spent six
months near the Iraqi border
during Desert Storm and six
months in Germany during the
Bosnian conflict. At age 68,
three years after reaching the
reserve’s mandatory retirement,
he was recalled again in 2004
and became one of the oldest
men on active duty. Dr. Hoffer
even served at the same time as
one of his sons, a Navy physician
and advisor to the surgeon general.
In recognition of his exceptionally meritorious
conduct in the performance of outstanding
services and achievements, Dr. Hoffer was
awarded the Legion of Merit from the U.S. Surgeon
General, the military’s highest non-combat
medal.
Calling the award “a very nice thing,” Dr.
Hoffer noted that the Legion of Merit has other
connections to Orthopædic Hospital. J. Vernon
Luck Sr., MD, onetime medical director, received
the medal in 1947. In addition, the father of OH
physician Patricia McKeever, MD was given the
medal for his service in World War II.
Dr. Hoffer said he was looking forward to
spending more time with his two sons, his daughter
and four granddaughters.
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