Becker's Spine Review

27 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Minnesota orthopedic group hit with $111M negligence verdict By Alan Condon A jury has awarded a man more than $111 million in damages as a result of alleged negligent care provided by Sartell, Minn.-based St. Cloud Orthopedic Associates in rela- tion to surgery on his le leg, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for Minnesota on May 17. Five details: 1. Aer fracturing his le leg on Jan. 14, 2017, Anuj apa, 24, was taken by ambulance to St. Cloud Hospital. Chad Holien, MD, the orthopedic surgeon on call at the hospital, performed sur- gery to address the fracture. 2. Mr. apa said he informed St. Cloud providers of "severe, difficult- to-control pain in his le lower leg" as well as "numbness, a burning sen- sation and reduced contraction of his muscles," according to court docu- ments. Despite these symptoms, he was discharged the day aer surgery and told to call a physician if his condi- tion worsened. 3. Six days aer he was discharged, Mr. apa returned to the hospital because of pain in his leg. Matthew Hwang, MD, another St. Cloud orthopedic surgeon, discovered Mr. apa expe- rienced acute compartment syndrome — the muscles in the anterior com- partment of his leg were gray in color and had no contractility. Mr. apa underwent more than 20 surgeries and "has been le with severe, disabling, permanent damage to his le leg," the complaint said. 4. Attorneys representing Mr. apa said St. Cloud did not provide him with acceptable care, alleging provid- ers failed to appropriately evaluate his symptoms and diagnose and treat his acute compartment syndrome, and did not appropriately discharge him. e lawsuit against St. Cloud Orthope- dic Associates was filed in September 2019. 5. e verdict comprises $110 mil- lion in past pain, disability, disfigure- ment, embarrassment and emotional distress, $493,073 in past medical ex- penses and $758,486 in future medical expenses. A administrator for St. Cloud Ortho- pedics told Becker's the practice main- tains "the care provided in this case was in accordance with accepted standards of care." St. Cloud Orthopedics contin- ues to support Dr. Holien and physi- cian assistant Will Paschke, who were named in this case, and is evaluating "options regarding this verdict." n Spine hospital CEO steps down By Carly Behm R obert Blair, CEO of Baton Rouge-based The Spine Hospital of Louisiana, is stepping down after 12 years with the company, according to Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. Under his tenure, The Spine Hospital's patient satisfaction became among the top 5 percent in the country, the May 25 report said. Mr. Blair plans to go into a "pseudo-retirement" and plans to do consult- ing work. His successor has been chosen, but their identity was not revealed. Mr. Blair said he had a reputation for helping struggling hospitals. However, he stayed with The Spine Hospital because it "felt like home," he told the Business Report. n Campbell Clinic spine surgeon named president of orthopedic society By Alan Condon T he Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America has named Jeffrey Sawyer, MD, as the next president of the society, step- ping into the role in 2023. Dr. Sawyer is a pediatric spine surgeon with Germantown, Tenn.-based Campbell Clinic Or- thopaedics, the practice said in a May 26 news release. He will be the third surgeon from the group to serve as president of the society af- ter Terry Canale, MD, who is retired, and James Beaty, MD. He has been a POSNA traveling fellow and won the society's special achievement award for his work on the pediatric orthopedic workforce. He has written more than 125 peer-reviewed pub- lications and serves as an editor for the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, the American Journal of Orthopaedics and the Orthopaedic Clinics of North America. n OrthoAlliance partners with 27-physician practice By Alan Condon O rthoAlliance, a Cincinnati-based MSO, has partnered with Columbus, Ohio- based OrthoNeuro. The partnership adds 27 physicians and 10 loca- tions to OrthoAlliance's network, according to a June 2 news release emailed to Becker's. "Throughout the 80-year history of OrthoNeuro we've had an insatiable curiosity of how best to care for our vpatients," spine surgeon Larry Todd, DO, said in the release. "We are now at that point where we see a need for collabora- tion, a need to join forces with other like-minded healthcare groups." This is the second partnership OrthoAlliance has solidified in 2022. In January, the MSO inked a partnership with New Albany, Ohio-based JIS Orthopedics. n

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