This content is sponsored by Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center.
Residents who live in southern Prince George’s County are getting greater access to innovative orthopaedic care, particularly in the area of hip and knee replacements, as Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center continues to evolve and expand in the region.
“There is a lot of great change happening now and coming in the future for Fort Washington,” said Dr. Shaun Khosla, an orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital.
Khosla has seen a remarkable transformation at Fort Washington Medical Center, working as an orthopaedic surgeon there since 2009. That was 13 years ago, long before it became part of the Adventist system in late 2019.
“They’ve really given us an opportunity to expand in recent years,” Khosla said of Adventist. “The growth has been amazing and this is just the beginning of a large growth curve for us from an orthopaedic standpoint.”
Orthopaedic surgeons such as Khosla are devoted to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Robotic technology
One of the most significant orthopaedic expansions at Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center involves the use of Mako SmartRobotics, a technology that gives patients access to more sophisticated hip and knee procedures.
Essentially, it uses a robotic arm to help guide surgeons as they work.
“While the majority of joint replacements are still being done through traditional techniques, robotics give us another option to provide high-quality and compassionate orthopaedic care,” said Khosla. “It uses computer robotic technology so the surgeon can really execute a more precise surgical plan in the operating room.”
“The fact that we’re able to offer that now to patients in our community is just a testament to how committed Adventist is to offering innovative technologies to our patients,” Khosla added.
In clinical studies, Mako SmartRobotics demonstrated the potential for patients to experience less pain, less need for potentially addictive pain medicines and less need for inpatient physical therapy.
“It’s beyond exciting to be able to offer this transformative technology,” said Dr. Rhamee Badr, who is also an orthopaedic surgeon at Fort Washington Medical Center. “We are able to perform less invasive surgeries, which means the patient will endure less scaring and pain.”
Badr said the technology gives surgeons more precise data to work with, allowing them to create a personalized plan based on each patient’s unique anatomy.
“Automated tools are logical to me in joint replacement surgery,” Badr said. “These tools take the guess work out of aligning a knee or hip replacement so that our knees and hips do not experience abnormal wear.”
Improving orthopaedic access
Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center is focused intently on keeping its promise to continue reducing local health care disparities in southern Prince George’s County, and giving patients more options and greater access to innovative technology such as Mako SmartRobotics is part of that mission.
“The Prince George’s County area is a very large and thriving community, but despite its size, there aren’t as many orthopaedic surgeons in comparison to Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia,” Badr said. “Adventist’s goal is to bridge the gap in access.”
It is part of a grander vision for the future outlined by hospital leaders that includes a larger, state-of-the-art hospital with a robust provider network and a long list of specialty services. The providers will be spread more evenly across a region where residents too often face a lack of options when it comes to their health.
While helping residents find medical care closer to home is a priority for Fort Washington Medical Center overall, it is especially important as it relates to orthopaedic care because the need for such care is so prevalent.
There are around 1.5 million knee and hip replacements performed annually in the United States, and that number grows by more than 20% every year.
Additionally, orthopaedic conditions are usually painful, making it critical for people to have access to care close to where they live so they don’t have to travel to find someone who can help them and put an end to their discomfort.
“Osteoarthritis doesn’t go away and it happens to almost all of us at some point,” Khosla said. “Those procedures are going to continue to increase as our population increases and that’s why the ability to offer cutting-edge technology right here is so important.”
To learn more about refined patient care at Fort Washington Medical Center, and to find a physician, please visit www.AdventistFWMC.com/ForYou.
