Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1347209
Lawrence C. Hurst, MD, and Stony Brook Orthopaedic Associates Center for Musculoskeletal Health: Expert Orthopedic Care Across Eastern Long Island BY K ATY MENA-BERKLEY LONG ISL AND RESIDENTS CAN NOW COUNT ON NATIONALLY-ACCL AIMED MUSCLE, BONE AND JOINT CARE AT MULTIPLE E A ST END LOCATIONS, THANKS TO AN E XPANSION OF THE CENTER FOR MUSCULOSKELE TAL HE ALTH, PART OF STONY BROOK ORTHOPAEDIC A SSOCIATES. THE E A STERN END of Long Island, known to locals simply as the East End, encompasses a vast swath of space that can take hours to traverse — not welcome news for residents in need of medical care. That is why Stony Brook Medicine has dedicated significant resources to expanding its footprint in a manner that makes a robust spectrum of orthopedic care more accessible and convenient. "Stony Brook Medicine has become a network which now embraces Southampton Hospital and Eastern Long Island Hospital," says Lawrence C. Hurst, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics, Chief of Hand Surgery and Director of the Hand Fellowship Training Program at Stony Brook University Hospital. "To get musculoskeletal care to the patients who typically use those facilities, we wanted to make sure we did so in an organized way. By providing access throughout the North and South Fork and eventually the Riverhead area, patients do not have to travel too far to get our services." STAFFED FOR SUCCESS A team of 34 individuals, including 13 providers, is involved in the project to provide orthopedic care from the Center for Musculoskeletal Health to the East End community. Specifically, patients can receive care at clinics in various locations, including East Hampton, Greenport, Hampton Bays, Mattituck, Shelter Island, Southampton, Wading River and Westhampton. "Our goal is to have providers at all of our locations two to three times every week," Dr. Hurst says. "By organizing our team so that the clinicians are moving to the locations rather than the patients always having to move to the locations, we are providing sophisticated care in the form of orthopedic surgery, subspecialty orthopedic surgery and things like rheumatology closer to home." Currently, specialists at the various Center for Musculoskeletal Health locations include a hand surgeon, general orthopedic surgeons, pain management specialists, pediatric orthopedic " We are ready, committed and able to help patients with any problems that arise in the musculoskeletal system. We are doing our very best to make a vast array of therapies available with very short turnaround — almost to the point of walk-ins." — LAWRENCE C. HURST, MD, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ORTHOPAEDICS, CHIEF OF HAND SURGERY, AND DIRECTOR OF THE HAND FELLOWSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM AT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL 1 8❱❱❱❱❱ P H Y S I C I A N S P O T L I G H T SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: ORTHOPEDICS