9 minute read
Life-changing orthopedic care
Restoring mobility, strength, and hope to patients
Peggy Dorval has always had an athlete’s mindset. It’s led her to endure the toughest obstacles of Spartan Races and rise to the challenges of marathons and triathlons. She’s been an avid skier and competitive golfer all her life.
After suffering a serious knee injury two years ago, however, “I had my active lifestyle flash before my eyes,” she recounts.
When she first sought help elsewhere, “I felt like just a diagnosis,” she says. Feeling alone and unsure what her future would hold, she found a new path to hope and healing, thanks to Jason Simon, MD, and Newton-Wellesley’s Orthopedics team.
To Dr. Simon, “I was more than a right ACL tear,” Peggy says. From their initial meeting, she felt seen as a whole person. He listened and understood who she was and what she was passionate about. Her main question: “How do I get myself back to what I love to do?” He told her it would be a struggle, but it was possible.
Post-surgery, “each time I went in to see Dr. Simon for a follow up, he gave me another dose of hope,” she says.
The highest level of care
When it comes to orthopedic issues, getting the right care at the right time can lead to swift relief and a trajectory of lifelong health and wellness.
From the best in regional spine care to outpatient joint replacements to game-changing sports medicine, our orthopedic specialists are committed to providing world-class care to help restore mobility, strength, and hope
For patients, it means access to expertise on par with academic medical centers, with the warmth and personal attention of a community hospital. “We have all of the resources and all of the talent to meet patients’ needs right here,” reflects Timothy Foster, MD, MBA, MS, Chair of the Orthopedic Surgery Department at NWH.
Advances in hip and knee replacement
In a field shaped by constant progress, innovations have profoundly improved patient outcomes. At Newton-Wellesley, patients find a team continually seeking—and finding—ways to make healing happen more quickly.
The Jim and Ellen Kaplan Center for Joint Reconstruction Surgery offers a wonderful case in point.
For patients with joint pain, access to state-of-the-art care and treatment holds the promise of a better quality of life and relief from living in discomfort. Nationally recognized for clinical quality and outcomes, the center offers a passionate team of skilled orthopedic surgeons and specialists who are leaders in the field.
The center’s director, Hany Bedair, MD, found himself drawn to orthopedic surgery early in his medical training. “I felt like I could make a substantial impact on someone’s quality of life,” he says. “It’s an amazing thing to do.”
At the Kaplan Joint Center, he’s one of four surgeons, each of whom shares a connection with Massachusetts General Hospital. With 1,200 cases a year, NWH is the second busiest arthroplasty center in Mass General Brigham, close behind MGH. From Dr. Bedair’s perspective, “We provide the same caliber of care. We treat patients with the same level of complexity, here at a community hospital with all that entails.”
Advances in surgical techniques and technology continue to expand options, including outpatient hip or knee replacement. “The less trauma you impart, the quicker patients recover,” Dr. Bedair notes. It’s become commonplace for patients to be discharged the same day or the next morning.
“The Joint Center is not just the surgeons, it’s our whole team,” he adds. That includes four advanced practice providers (APPs) who care for patients with many different conditions.
The vast majority of patients are referred by primary care physicians who have come to rely on the center. Dr. Bedair sees their trust as a testament to the team’s impact on thousands of lives over time.
Welcome relief from back pain
For those enduring chronic back pain, our multidisciplinary Spine Center offers a welcome source of relief.
“Everyone who walks through our door has a different story,” reflects Jessica Aidlen, MD, the center’s director and the hospital’s Chief of Spine Surgery. Every patient’s needs are unique. The entire team focuses on “what whole person health will look like.”
Spine navigators guide patients every step of the way, coordinating care by a highly trained team that includes spine surgeons, physical and occupational therapists, physiatrists, and pain management specialists.
For patients, the navigation program has been a game changer. They can be seen by a navigator within as few as 48 hours. “We make sure you’re seeing the right person, and you know there’s a good pathway for your care,” she says.
“It’s hard to feel you’re on steady ground when you have pain,” Dr. Aidlen reflects. At the Spine Center, “patients feel like someone’s listening. It makes a huge difference for them to feel cared for and to trust they have a team that will carry them through their journey.”
As a leading spine surgeon, “it’s an exciting time as technology and techniques evolve,” she adds. “In many ways, we’re ahead of the game.” For example, NWH is the only hospital in New England to have the NuVasive Pulse, which provides surgeons with 3-D imaging of the spine in real time.
Yet surgery is only one option, and only when warranted. There are many different pathways. The center is the only one of its kind across Mass General Brigham with all of these options under one roof.
She takes heart in seeing what advances in the field have meant for patients. “We’re continually thinking about how we can deliver care differently,” she says. “I want us to stay at the cutting edge of these kinds of conversations.”
She describes her team as “the best of the best.”
For everyone, “it all comes down to advocating for our patients,” she concludes. “That’s what Newton-Wellesley is all about. It’s what we do so well.”
Getting back in the game
As NWH’s Chief of Sports Medicine, Robert Nascimento, MD, feels continually rewarded to see the joy it brings patients to get back to being active and independent. As a team, “helping people do what they love really keeps us happy,” he says.
Sports medicine touches the lives of everyone, from ages 3 to 90, he reflects. “We want people to stay active. Whatever it is you play, we’ll help you keep playing longer.”
Our renowned sports medicine specialists help get people back in the game. They care for professional sports teams, Division 1 college athletes, weekend warriors, high school students, and everyone in between.
On a given day, Dr. Nascimento may go from the New England Patriots’ facility in Foxboro, to the operating room at NWH, to the Boston College sidelines, where he’s Medical Director of BC Athletics. Among their many ties to teams and colleges, he and Dr. Foster now also direct a new Mass General Brigham partnership with BC as the exclusive healthcare provider for its athletic programs.
Since joining the Orthopedics team in 2015, Dr. Nascimento has seen an ongoing evolution in the field. “It’s ever-changing,” he says. Among the changes has been a shift to far more sub-specialization, where almost everyone is fellowship-trained. Cutting-edge treatments such as biologics are a new horizon, with the promise of helping patients heal even more quickly.
He also values the ongoing efforts to bring the same level of care available downtown out into the communities where our patients live. He highlights NWH’s Orthopedic Walk-In Clinic as wonderful new dimension of patient- and community-centered care. [See article, page 13.] “Our patients know they’ll see a high-level provider with the easy access that they’re looking for,” he says.
“It’s a really powerful way to serve our community. That’s more important to us than anything.”
Celebrating patients’ victories
When Peggy Dorval looks back at her Newton-Wellesley experience, “I am forever blessed that I met Dr. Simon,” she says. She appreciates not only his clinical and surgical expertise but also his compassion and care for his patients.
In her case, “I never expected recovery to be so challenging mentally and physically,” she says. As difficult as it was, she knew she had a team with her every step of the way.
At first, even short walks left her tired. By six months, she could golf with a brace, and within a year she returned to the ski slopes. At every appointment, the staff warmly welcomed her. “When I would celebrate my small victories, it was like they were celebrating them with me,” she says.
Inspired to recommend the hospital to family and friends, “I’ve seen them treated the exact same way,” Peggy adds gratefully.
Walk-In offers convenient, cutting-edge care
In February 2021, the opening of the Orthopedic Walk-In clinic brought to our area one of only a few such centers in the United States. The visionary NWH approach offers a cutting-edge model of orthopedic “urgent care,” staffed by orthopedic physician assistants and board-certified surgeons.
Located at 978 Worcester Street in Wellesley, the clinic has given patients of all ages a welcome alternative to an Emergency Department visit, all with no appointment necessary.
On New Year’s Day 2022, when one of Peggy Dorval’s teenage sons dislocated his kneecap, she saw firsthand what makes it such a terrific option.
She went at the suggestion of Jason Simon, MD, the clinic’s medical director and her trusted NWH surgeon. As one of the first patients to arrive that morning, her son was seen almost immediately. An orthopedic physician assistant provided “one of the most thorough exams I’d ever seen,” says Peggy. Within five days, he had an undergone an MRI, and he went on to have successful surgery by Dr. Simon during a college break.
While originally projected to see 1,000 patients in year one, more than 4,500 people sought care. Since then, the rare combination of expertise and access has led to more than 20,000 additional patient visits.
In developing the clinic, “we were looking at patients’ needs from a community point of view, with the goal of giving people streamlined access to orthopedic care,” reflects Dr. Simon. Now approaching its third anniversary, ”it’s proven to be very successful on any number of levels.”
