PORT ANGELES — Forty-five million steps.
That’s the 30-year life-span of the latest generation of knee-replacement implants, said Dr. Keith Ure, a board certified orthopedic surgeon at the Olympic Medical Physicians Orthopaedic Clinic in Sequim.
“Unless you’re Forrest Gump, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to be able to have one of these and maybe have it last a lifetime,” Ure told a crowd of about 80 at the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday at the Red Lion Hotel.
Given Olympic Medical Center’s size and location, surgeons here are “very lucky to have amazing, state-of-the-art implants and surgical suite tools,” Ure said.
“I think a big part of that is the affiliation they have with Smith & Nephew, which is an orthopedic implant company that I worked with in California as well.
“I was surprised to find that all the surgeons here are using the company almost exclusively, and I think the reason is because they have such state-of-the-art and quality implants.”
Ure showed examples of two such implants: the patient-specific Visionaire knee replacement and the Verilast knee replacement.
“Using these tools, it improves our alignment and improves the ability to get these implants in precisely, so that the patient’s knee is functioning as close to a normal knee as possible,” Ure said.
Modern knee placement technology eliminates 22 surgical steps, including the need to insert a rod in the hollow part of a leg bone.
“Everybody benefits,” Ure said.
“Surgeons benefit because it’s more efficient surgery. It’s more accurate. It reduces OR time, it reduces surgical infections and it reduces anesthesia complications as a result of decreased OR times.”
Hospitals benefit because they save money by needing fewer gadgets and “often times increase their volume of orthopedic surgeries as patients hear that we have the best technology out there.”
Patents benefit because the surgery is faster and less invasive than traditional knee replacement. The rehab time is shorter and scars are smaller, Ure said.
Surgeries and rehab procedures bucked a trend at OMC in the first six months of the year. Patient volumes for these procedures were 5 percent more than budgeted, according a second-quarter financial report.
OMC’s overall volumes were down 9 percent, contributing to a net loss of $654,000 since January.
OMC last year identified orthopedics as a place to improve.
Rhonda Curry, assistant administrator, said 60 percent of Clallam County residents left the area for joint replacement procedures early last year.
OMC had 43 percent of the market for people who required an overnight stay for orthopedic surgery.
Patients complained about long wait times, so OMC recruited a pair of new doctors.
“We put orthopedic surgery as one of our top recruitment priorities in our strategic plan for 2011, and we were thrilled when we were able to recruit Dr. Keith Ure,” Curry said.
Ure, a graduate of University of Utah, completed his residency in Portland, Ore., and did a fellowship at the Joint Replacement Institute in Los Angeles. He also trained in England and France and moved to the North Olympic Peninsula from Mount Shasta, Calif.
OMC also recruited Dr. Henry Yee, who provides call coverage for orthopedic surgery. Yee started in September 2011, three months after Ure opened his doors.
Ure and Yee joined Dr. Loren Larson and the team of physician assistants at the orthopedic clinics.
In addition to joint replacements, orthopedic surgeons fix other musculoskeletal injuries, including muscle strains, tendon injuries and fractures.
They often refer patients to physical therapists and rehab specialists.
“Part of what makes this job fun here in Sequim is that we have excellent ancillary services that people know are good quality,” Ure said.
As a Level 3 trauma center, OMC provides 24-hour orthopedic surgery in addition to general surgery and anesthesia.
The Sequim orthopedic clinic at 777 N. Fifth Ave. opened in June 2011 to complement the existing orthopedic clinic at 1004 Caroline St., Port Angeles.
As an affiliate with Swedish Medical Center, OMC has “a nice ability to provide a seamless transfer to Swedish for sub-specialists, for example spine surgery, which we do not do at Olympic,” Curry said.
For more information about the Olympic Medical Physicians Orthopaedic Clinic in Sequim, phone 360-457-1500.
For more information on Olympic Medical Center, visit www.olympicmedical.org.
