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Celebrating five year of Fracture Clinic at SMH

From broken bones to torn ligaments, Monday August 6th marks the fifth year anniversary of the opening of the fracture clinic at Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH).

The fracture clinic at SMH, which runs on Tuesdays and Fridays from 7:30am – 3:00pm every week, provides follow up care for patients with acute bone and joint injuries referred by SMH’s Emergency Department (ED) and family doctors in the community.

Run by Dr. Syndie Singer, Chief of Surgery, and Dr. Kelly Riedel, Orthopedic Surgeons at Stevenson Memorial Hospital, the fracture clinic is supported by an amazing team including cast technicians and nurses who provide excellent individualized care with cast application and brace fitting.  As well as reception staff who ensure appropriate and efficient flow of patients, and assist with important patient documents.

The fracture clinic is one of the busiest out patient clinics at Stevenson.

In just five short years, the fracture clinic has grown from 1,428 patients in 2013/14 to 5,059 patients in 2017/18 – an incredible 354% increase, that reinforces the growing demand and need for orthopedic services in our community. 

Prior to the opening of the fracture clinic in 2013, patients from our community used to have to travel to the fracture clinic at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket,” says Lorraine Johnston, Nurse Practioner, Manager Dialysis, Out Patient Department and Mental Health at SMH. “But now they can get the appointments, tests and the specialist care they need, right here at home.”

We care for patients of every age and stage of life in our fracture clinic – from sports injuries and motor vehicle accidents to slips and falls. We treat a variety of injuries, the most common being adult ankle and wrist fractures as well as pediatric elbow and wrist fractures,” says Dr. Singer. “I am the first full time orthopedic surgeon at SMH. I have sub-specialty training in foot and ankle orthopedic surgery and hold a consultation clinic weekly, as well as spend one day a week in the Operating Room (OR) at Stevenson.”

And the demand for care continues to grow.

“There is a real and growing need for orthopedic services in our community,” explains Dr. Singer. “In the future when the growth supports it, I’d like to see the fracture clinic expand to other days and add more specialists, so we can keep growing to serve our community better with specialized services, close to home.”

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