Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/696420
A CADRE OF DEDICATED SUBSPECIALISTS AND A FACILIT Y DUBBED "ORTHOPEDIC HE AVEN" ESTABLISH SYR ACUSE ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALISTS £SOS¤ AS A PACESE T TER IN REGIONAL HAND AND WRIST CARE. FINDING A PLACE in the vanguard of any medica l discipline requires the coa les- cence of myriad factors. Some — physician experience and expertise, combined with facilities equipped with leading-edge technologies — can be cultivated through focused leadership and a clearly defined organizationa l plan. Other factors, such as case volumes, a re influenced by the environment in which the organization delivers ca re. For SOS, the necessa r y components for a leading area orthope- dic provider have cr ysta llized. But the group's physicians continue to seek ways to enhance the care they deliver. "O u r doctors a re not on ly genera l or thopedic surgeons, they 're specia l- ists — that 's the SOS adva ntage," says Nat ha n G. E verd i n g , M D, ha nd a nd upper-extremity specialist at SOS. "Each of our physicians focuses on perfecting his cra f t , a nd we a l l actively pursue additiona l training to enhance the care we provide." While SOS oers comprehensive ortho- pedic ser vices, a nd its providers have privileges at many hospitals in Syracuse and its surrounding areas, five of its spe- cia lists — a nd one more who will join the practice in September — are devoted specifica lly to treating the numerous conditions aecting the hand and wrist. PREPARED FOR VOLUME As a group, SOS hand and wrist specia l- ists evaluate and treat numerous patients who seek medica l attention for injuries and debilitating conditions aecting the ha nd a nd wrist. To address the needs of t he la rge volume of patients seek- ing ca re from the tea m, SOS recruited specialty-trained support sta and built an outpatient surger y center equipped with leading-edge technolog y for ortho- pedic surgery. Gaining the Upper Hand (and Wrist) in Syracuse Orthopedic Care BY TREVOR WILLINGHAM Katie Curran, MSPT, CHT, site supervisor of the Dewitt Hand Orthopedic & Sports Therapy Department, provides a custom-fabricated hand-based thumb spica orthosis for a patient. PHOTOS •C• SOS B y t h e N u m b e r s r s r In 2015, 44.2 percent of all orthopedic surgeries completed at Specialists One-day Surgery were performed by hand and wrist surgeons. 0 6 0 6❱❱❱❱❱ C O V E R S T O R Y