chief of orthopedic surgery mgh

Zinner explained the philosophy that drives the limits on concurrent surgery at his hospital. Our spine team sees patients at these locations: Mass General - Boston55 Fruit StreetYawkey Center for Outpatient Care, Suite 3ABoston, MA 02114, Orthopaedics at Mass General Waltham52 Second AvenueBuilding 52, 1st Floor, Suite 1150Waltham, MA 02451, Newton-Wellesley Spine Center159 Wells AvenueNewton, MA 02459, Mass General/North Shore Center for Outpatient Care102-104 Endicott StreetDanvers, MA 01923, BW / Mass General Health Care Center20 Patriot PlaceFoxborough, MA 01923. Hospital officials have declined to share the document, even with state regulators, citing attorney-client privilege and promises of confidentiality to staffers interviewed. The three surgeries overlapped for a total of 13 minutes, records show. He completed his undergraduate studies from the College of the Holy Cross, and earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Freiberg, an expert in adult reconstructive surgery with an emphasis on hip and knee arthroplasty, says he wasn't looking for a change. Tony Meng didnt dwell much on the risks as he prepared for surgery on that August morning in 2012. One recurring complaint was that patients lingered under anesthesia for long periods, as the operating room staff waited for the attending surgeon to arrive from work on another concurrent case. Orthopaedic Journal at Harvard Medical School - annual publication Best of luck to you, Dr. F. Zimmer is so lucky to have you! If there are issues or concerns, please let me and or Harry know. More broadly, MGH officials say their analysis of hundreds of orthopedic cases from 2013 and 2014 found no significant difference in complication rates between overlapping and non-overlapping cases. Some surgeons might have awakened Meng to make sure he could still move, but Wood later testified he decided the risk that Meng would thrash and hurt himself was too great. Check appointments, communicate with your provider and pay bills online 24/7. Certainly, at a hospital where 37,000 surgeries are performed each year, concurrent operations make up a small minority. General employees complained about at least 44 alleged problems involving concurrent surgeries, and raised concerns to their superiors and colleagues, sometimes through official channels, other times in court testimony or ordinary e-mails about what they considered substandard patient care or medical practice between 2005 and 2015, the Spotlight Team found. Now, attorneys for three of Woods patients say that double-booking will play a prominent role in their malpractice lawsuits against the surgeon, including one filed by Meng and another by former Red Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks, who blames Wood for what he alleges was a botched back surgery in 2011 that ended his career. One fellow will start at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the other will start at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and rotate half-way . After a resident positioned her for the surgery, the attending surgeon, Dr. Timothy Bhattacharyya, made an incision to expose the hip, according to medical and court records reviewed by the Globe. He recalled Burke coming into his office in late 2009 and launching a fusillade of threats. With more than 25 years of experience in academic orthopaedic surgery, Mitchel B. Harris, MD, has been named chief of the Department of Orthopaedics at Massachusetts General Hospital, effective October 1, 2017. (Lillemoe later said he had misspoken.). After getting a call at his Beacon Hill home, WoodKirkham Wood, M.D.Spine surgeon, chief of spine 2004-2013 said in his deposition that he returned to the hospital to review the images and a few hours later operated again on Meng with two neurosurgeons assisting. Torchiana, through a spokesman, said he also kept detailed notes about that meeting, but declined to share them with the Spotlight Team saying it was a private meeting. Im very proud of my department and our surgeons and our care.. But then, one Saturday night in June 2008, the phone rang in his home. and he is the renown orthopedic surgeon who has led the hip and knee service at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston for over 20 years. When Warner presented the case at the monthly orthopedics meeting on complications, Burke said he shook his head and whispered to a colleague: Why doesnt someone ask if he was in the room when the vascular injury occurred?, Both Warner and Price, in written responses, disputed the account, but declined to provide specifics because of patient privacy laws. Burke raised his concerns about overlapping surgery. Now director of Orthopedic Trauma Services at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. He also said that publication of allegations based, he believes, on innuendo, incomplete and inaccurate data and mischaracterizations could clearly harm a group of surgeons who every day provide a world class service to our community.. What will you tell this quadriplegic man and his family when they ask if his paralysis could have been prevented by having his surgeon be attentive only to him during his surgery? Burke wrote in an e-mail copied to senior leaders at MGH and Partners. The General Hospital Corporation. No one knows why it happened to Tony Meng, or how, or even exactly when. There is no known connection between the complications and deaths and the double-booking, but none of the patients and family members interviewed had any idea that the surgeons were involved in a second operation at the same time. Hospital leaders would define the critical parts for many surgeries, and identify operations and types of patients whose surgeries should not overlap. Surgeons would face more requirements and more limits. mleelman@partners.org. From my understanding, the delay was not 2.5 hours. Orthopaedic Spine Center - Massachusetts General Hospital Dr. Harris chaired a Department of Defense peer-reviewed Orthopaedic research program, and has authored or co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed academic publications. Bono CM, Leonard DA, Cha TD, Schwab JH, Wood KB, Harris MB, Schoenfeld AJ. Explore fellowships, residencies, internships and other educational opportunities. The Meng case reverberated deeply for BurkeDennis William Burke, M.D.Orthopedic surgeon. General is a teaching hospital where residents have graduated responsibility for the burdens of surgery and that concurrent surgery is an acceptable practice at other institutions, according to notes Burke took of the meeting. The existing rules, outlined in a 2002 hospital memo, did little more than require surgeons to be present for the key portions of the case, leaving it to the surgeons to decide what that meant. They in a sense have traded in their New England Journal of Medicine for the Wall Street Journal., Dr. Kirkham Wood, a graduate of Albany Medical College who later trained under a spinal deformity specialist in Minnesota, took on some of the most ambitious concurrent surgeries, a challenge, he acknowledged in court testimony, that was strenuous.. Or more directly: Does a patient have a right to know that he could be sharing his surgeons focus and skills with the patient down the hall? MGH has no such mandate listed in its policy, but hospital officials say they have taken some steps that the Brigham has not, like specifically barring some procedures from being double-booked at all. Gerald Austen, M.D.Chairman of the chiefs council, a founder of Partners HealthCare, a heart specialist, wrote a letter of recommendation to MIT. The Spotlight Team interviewed four patients who suffered complications and the relatives of two patients who died after double-booked cases between 2006 and 2015. Dr. Elhassan spoke with WCVB about his innovative approach to restoring function and range-of-motion in a patient long-suffering from chronic shoulder pain. Rubash announced the departure with mixed emotions, saying Wood built an outstanding spine service. Subscribe now for unlimited access to BostonGlobe.com. He is an internationally-recognized expert on the treatment of foot and ankle fractures and other traumatic injuries to the lower extremity. Hes as great a person as he is a doctor and Ill miss him at MGH. At Mass General, the brightest minds in medicine collaborate on behalf of our patients to bridge innovation science with state-of-the-art clinical medicine. Meng wouldnt know until long after he woke up in a recovery room following the 11-hour operation to hear a medical resident say, Mr. MGH officials assert that Burke violated hospital rules and possibly federal privacy laws by supplying the Globe with copies of some internal records. We have remained at the forefront of medicine by fostering a culture of collaboration, pushing the boundaries of medical research, educating the brightest medical minds and maintaining an unwavering commitment to the diverse communities we serve. A hole in the front side of the protective membrane allowed Mengs spine to bend and protrude, potentially causing his paralysis. He would need all of his talent and confidence this day, and then some, as he planned to tackle two complicated spinal surgeries over the next many hours two patients, two operating rooms, moving back and forth from one to the other, focusing on the challenging tasks that demanded his special skills, leaving the other work to a general surgeon, who assisted briefly, and two surgeons in training. Former chief of MGH Spine Service from 2004-2013, current director of Spine Surgery Fellowship Program. Refer a Patient We are dedicated to working with our referring physicians. Dr. Richard Pino, MGHs clinical vice chairman of anesthesia, e-mailed his boss, Dr. Jeanine Wiener-Kronish, in August 2011, that Dr. WarnerJon J.P. Warner, M.D.Chief of MGHs shoulder service routinely does not account for sometimes two hours of a patient anesthetized waiting for him when he is operating in two rooms., MGH, in a statement, dismissed the complaint as generic office carping. Pino said the e-mail does not represent my views on the subject but rather those of the staff who sent it to me.. The prognostic value of preoperative participation in activities of daily living on postoperative outcomes following lumbar discectomy. BostonMA, 02114. Get the latest news, explore events and connect with Mass General. Zimmer Gets a Chief Medical Officer For the First Time. Double booking is fine, if done properly, and our policy will change the practice at the MGH. Copyright 2007-2023. Mass. Dr. Bridwell is the Co-Director and Founder of the Pediatric/Adult Spinal Deformity Service. Dublin, N.H. : William L. Bauhan, 1996. No one knew it at the time, but it was, for Burke and MGH, the triggering moment in a seven-year conflict. She told Burke her understanding was that the patient might have to wait days for surgical relief. But, even as hospital officials developed the revised policy, new disputes erupted, including Burkes discovery that Wood was the attending surgeon for a second concurrent operation while he was doing back surgery on Red Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks in December 2011. When the Globe informed MGH officials that Burke had rebutted their charge by providing the records, the hospital began an investigation into whether Burke had violated federal law requiring that patient information be kept confidential. Chiefs Reports: Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in 1899 and served as the first Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery until 1909. In 2000, Dr. Freiberg joined MGH as Chief of the Adult Reconstructive Surgery Service. Burke sided with Shervin, testifying against the hospital. Mitchel Harris, MD - Department of Orthopaedics Soon state regulators were investigating concurrent surgeries done by several orthopedic surgeons, eventually focusing on 31 double-booked surgeries, according to a letter sent in November 2014 by the medical board to the Department of Public Health. We took those concerns very seriously, Slavin said. In September 2022, Mass Generals Orthopaedic Trauma Service was chosen to host the inaugural class of the Orthopaedic Trauma Associations Roy Sanders Traveling Fellows. MGHs sister hospital, Brigham and Womens, says it does not permit cases to run simultaneously for more than an hour, except in emergencies. Dr. Kirkham Wood stopped double-booking surgeries some time after the Meng case in 2012, when a revised hospital policy sharply limited concurrent complex spine cases, according to Dr. Harry Rubash, MGHs chief of orthopedic surgery. I think its a fact that most patients would be uncomfortable with their doctor doing two operations simultaneously.. He was happy to put himself in the care of Wood, a doctor who was recruited by MGH as chief of its orthopedic spine service in 2004 and who would draw many plaudits from patients. Let us help you navigate your in-person or virtual visit to Mass General. Read more about some of the patients who have seen our Spine team and gotten back to the things they love. Specialties. At 7:42 a.m., Dr. Kirkham Wood began a complex spine procedure on a 70-year-old woman in OR 64, according to medical records and legal documents. Burke could not get concerns about double-booking off his mind. Doctors could not be the attending surgeon for three rooms simultaneously, something already prohibited by Medicare rules. James P. Rathmell, M.D., Susan A. Vassallo, M.D. They describe the practice as an extension of the teaching hospitals team approach, pairing senior doctors with residents surgical trainees and fellows, who have finished their general orthopedic surgery residency and are training in a subspecialty. Dear Dr Freiburg, I would like to know your thoughts on Titanium and/or metal allergy in total joint prothesis rejection/inflammation. 50th President of the CSRS, Dr. Babaria Joins DISC Sports & Spine Center, Michael Kelly, M.D. This is a realm where patient privacy and business information is, by law and habit, guarded zealously. Our hospital is being crucified for something that happens at hospitals across the globe, Wood said. Orthopaedic Trauma Service55 Fruit StreetYawkey Building for Outpatient CareSuite 3C Joseph H. Schwab, MD, MS. Chief, Orthopaedic Spine Surgery. Everyone in America has done it at some time.. is new director of Scoliosis and Spinal Deformities at Rady Childrens Hospital-San Diego. Burke, in a later deposition, called Rubashs account a total fabrication.. George Dyer, M.D. It had been a concurrent procedure performed weeks earlier by another MGH surgeon. Wood said in later testimony that he handled all the critical parts of the operation, but he wrote in his operative report that he was present for the entire case.. And the attending surgeon, once the work is underway, is committed to managing two cases. Search for condition information or for a specific treatment program. Dr. Christopher M. Bono is a board-certified, fellowship-trained adult spine surgeon in the Orthopaedic Spine Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. General has revised its patient consent form over the years, doubling its length to roughly 500 words in the version printed last October. If you have any questions, contact Megan Leelman at Theyre engaged in all these activities which her action or inaction absolutely pales in comparison to.. Burke wanted to study mechanical engineering, as Austen had. Explore fellowships, residencies, internships and other educational opportunities. Dr. Bridwell is an internationally renowned, board-certified orthopedic surgeon and serves as the J. Albert Key Distinguished Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine. The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is seeking a Chief of the Arthroplasty Service. Brandon E. Earp, MD is Vice Chair of Clinical Operations for the Brigham and Women's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. Orthopaedic Journal at Harvard Medical School - annual publication It is, however, hard to verify the comparison as some of those peer institutions, such as The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, and Mayo Clinic, declined to provide the Globe with copies of their policies or to discuss them in detail. That resident worked on the 2008 hip surgery case that first raised concerns for Burke about double-booking. to analyze our web traffic. Department Histories - MGH History - MGH Guides at Massachusetts During a recent interview at her home in Montpellier, France, she said she was angry to find out that Bhattacharyya was tending to other patients at the same time as her. He told Burke that Wood had faced an appropriate punishment for violating the new concurrent surgery policy losing the right to do simultaneous procedures. So much so that he also did both of my brothers hips. Dr. Orthopaedics Advances in Motion provides health care professionals with information about the latest innovations from Mass General. Had he known Dr. Wood might schedule a second surgery overlapping his, he said, I would have gone somewhere else.. He routinely does not account for sometimes two hours of a patient anesthetized waiting for him when he is operating in two rooms and the frequent need for PM incentives to cover his rooms because of surgical delays covering two ORs. They also privately question the motives of some who made them. Candidate must be an arthroplasty fellowship-trained, board-certified orthopaedic surgeon with an exemplary record that exhibits the . I wish you would have given us a chance as once people see we mean business, things will change for the better. collected, please refer to our Privacy Policy. Frank X. Pedlow, Jr., M.D. The surgical team, led by Wood, worked intensely to figure out why. PDF Service Chief, Arthroplasty Service Massachusetts General Hospital Dr. Pedlow is a board-certified, fellowship-trained spine surgeon, specializing in the surgical treatment of disorders of the adult spine. Both agencies declined to comment. Hospital policy specifies that the patient be told generally of the involvement of the attending surgeon in the operation, but there is no written requirement to disclose whether the doctor will be responsible for a second overlapping operation. Then, he would turn Meng over onto his abdomen and operate some more. Get the latest news, explore events and connect with Mass General. He then went to the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Science Center, for his fellowship in Orthopaedic Spine and Trauma in 1990, followed by a fellowship in Orthopaedic Spine and Trauma Surgery at Queen's Medical Centre in the United Kingdom in 1994. We have remained at the forefront of medicine by fostering a culture of collaboration, pushing the boundaries of medical research, educating the brightest medical minds and maintaining an unwavering commitment to the diverse communities we serve. Watch the video to hear Dr. Schwab discuss the importance of the multidisciplinary care that orthopaedic oncology patients receive . Burkes looming departure does not, however, mean an end to the controversy. BostonMA, 02114, Wyndham Hotel - Beacon Hill The rules also required that, in order to bill Medicare, a surgeon managing simultaneous surgeries must be immediately available if a problem arises in either case or, if he cannot, to designate a backup attending to assist. He was recently promoted to full professor at Harvard Medical School. First, Dennis Burke a leading hip and knee replacement specialist who hastily flew to Switzerland to aid Secretary of State John F. Kerry when he broke his femur in May went to war with hospital administrators and some of his peers over his assertion that running concurrent surgeries is ethically unthinkable and dangerous. Wood, chief of MGH's orthopedic spine service at the time and a nationally renowned practitioner in his specialty, is a confident, veteran surgeon. The three doctors say Lillemoe was blunt about some of the hospitals double-booking practices. and Andrew Pao, M.D. This is an example of one of his concurrent surgeries, according to finalized operating room schedules. Wood then went to the other operating room to make sure the surgical fellow had, according to Woods testimony, done the appropriate operation on the 70-year-old patient. Access to sports medicine experts when you need them most. John Henry, the principal owner of the Red Sox and the owner of The Boston Globe, was a trustee of the hospital from 2005 to 2014. The General Hospital Corporation. While Wood was checking on the fellows work in OR 64, the crisis continued with Meng. Mass General Waltham's Outpatient Surgery Center offers joint replacement as day surgery in our new and convenient facilities at the crossroads of Bostons MetroWest. It was Dr. Nina Shervin, a fifth-year resident for whom Burke was a trusted mentor, calling in tears about an elderly woman in great pain; her newly replaced hip had dislocated twice. Copyright 2007-2023. MGH officials dispute the validity and importance of almost every complaint, saying many are based on inaccurate information, turf fights, or misunderstandings in a busy hospital. He and his wife even loaned Shervin $375,000 to help her pay off debts and launch her own practice. Hospitals that permit double-booking consider it an efficient way to deploy the talents of their most in-demand specialists while reducing wasted operating room time. There are those in our profession who have been co-opted by the balance sheet, Burke wrote in September 2012 to Dr. Lillemoe, the hospitals surgery chief. Dr. John Y Kwon, MD - Boston, MA - Foot and Ankle Orthopedic Surgery Those changes came only after MGH officials took a remarkable step. Slavin would not share it with the Globe or government regulators. We want to get you back to doing the things you love. We offer diagnostic and treatment options for common and complex medical conditions. He had lost all muscle responses in his arms and legs, and doctors still did not know why. For more information about these cookies and the data The French womans case contributed to Shervins difficulties at MGH, where she was placed on probation in 2007 for alleged shortcomings. , but offered little direction on which procedures are appropriate for double-booking, what are the key or critical parts, and how much overlap of cases is safe and ethical. Massachusetts General Hospital & New England Baptist Hospital But the Meng case also highlights what critics of double-booking find alarming: Surgeries dont always unfold as they are expected to. Not the man, in other words, one would expect to become the hospitals bitter antagonist. They are the eyes and ears for patients in their most vulnerable state, carefully watching vital signs for any disturbance. Previously, Dr. Harris served as the chief of the Orthopaedic Trauma Service at Brigham and Womens Hospital (BWH). About Jon J.P. Warner - Mass General Brigham After Warner rushed through the door several minutes later, a vascular surgeon was called to repair the tear and ultimately the operation was aborted. She said she finally found the doctor in room 25 doing the ankle procedure and asked him to come assist Shervin. Your email address will not be published. MGH says it has been reviewing the safety of concurrent surgery for some time. With more than 25 years of experience in academic orthopaedic surgery, Mitchel B. Harris, MD, has been named chief of the Department of Orthopaedics at Massachusetts General Hospital, effective October 1, 2017. SternDon SternFormer US Attorney hired by Partners to investigate double-booking, trim with silver hair, was working at the time as a partner for the law firm Cooley LLP and specialized in carrying out internal investigations for companies. But Vrahas had at least one other operation going on at the same time, and a resident performed the procedure instead, Dalal said in an interview. and he is the renown orthopedic surgeon who has led the hip and knee service at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston for over 20 years. Skates, in a subsequent e-mail, told Burke: the situation must be corrected.. When I have access to the dynamic schedule upon arrival to MVH, I will check the times for accuracy. Wood had honed his specialty essentially just about anything that can go wrong with the spine through hundreds of procedures, and, by overseeing two operating rooms at the same time, he could focus on the tasks that most required his skills. 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