The Wilmington Orthopaedic Group, the longest standing orthopaedic practice in Southeastern North Carolina, was established in 1955.  We are composed of seven board certified orthopaedic surgeons who are committed to the highest standards of quality and cost efficient orthopaedic medical care.

We are proud of our forty-nine-year history and intend to continue our pursuit of excellence.  Along with the provision of high quality care, we consider our pleasant and well trained staff, our clean and comfortable facility, accessibility of our physicians, and a commitment to medical excellence and other quality of life issues in our community to be important reasons for our continuing success. Our physicians work well together and regularly consult with one another on difficult medical problems.

We are located at 2716 Ashton Drive. One of our practitioners is always available by telephone (24 hrs./day, 7 days/week). A physician, physician assistant, triage nurse or a medical assistant in close communication with one of our practitioners can return calls in a timely manner. We attend to emergencies promptly. Patients with urgent problems can be seen on a same-day basis.

The physical facility is clean, comfortable, orderly, and is "barrier free" for those with physical disabilities.  It is conveniently located near the New Hanover Regional Medical Center, a major medical center where modern and sophisticated treatment and diagnostic services are readily available and the Cape Fear Orthopaedic Specialty Center, now a part of the New Hanover Health Network.

We are proud of our professional and congenial staff.  Our clinical staff uses medical assistant organizations to enhance their knowledge.  Electronic claims processing and computer access reduce registering and filing problems.  Certified technicians using modern equipment and film to minimize radiation exposure to our patients perform high quality x-rays on site. Our orthopaedic practitioners interpret x-rays during patient visits, thereby preventing delays in diagnosis and treatment and avoiding outside professional interpretation fees.

From our well stocked cast room we can supply the simplest finger splint, a complicated leg brace, and almost anything in between.  To solve most patient needs without inconvenient visits elsewhere, we stock ample casting, splinting, and bracing materials at both sites.

In concert with our practice administrator, our attention to detail, cost control, and input into insurance and management decisions have kept our group effective as well as positioned for future changes in the way medical care is financed.  We have no conflict of interest with any radiological, surgical, therapy, or other medical services in the community.  Physical therapy is available in a building attached to our offices through a lease arrangement for the facility.

The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, the only orthopaedic board recognized as legitimate by the American Council on Medical Specialties has certified seven of our physicians.  Our ages are such that we range from very seasoned to recently trained physicians.  Thus, solid experience and the newest knowledge function synergistically in the best interests of our patients.  We are all graduates of accredited medical schools and residences in general orthopaedic surgery but some members are additionally fellowship trained in spine surgery, foot and ankle surgery, sports medicine, hand and upper extremity, and some have special interest and extensive experience in joint replacement.  We are all credentialed for privileges at both hospitals and the one independent surgical center in Wilmington.

We have an Orthopaedic Physician's Assistant with over twenty-eight years of experience in our office and the operating room.  We have four board certified Physician Assistants, effectively giving us twelve professionals who can respond to emergencies, telephone calls, and so on.  Each physician assistant brings several years of experience to us and each has been carefully selected from a large pool of applicants.

We have strong associations with the primary care physicians and surgical specialists in our community and believe that health care providers in our region hold us in high esteem.  As proof, one of us has been twice listed in The Best Doctors in America, Southeast Region, a book based on a survey of physicians.  We have a teaching affiliation with the Coastal AHEC (a teaching arm of the UNC School of Medicine) as well as close ties to the academic medical centers in the state. We believe that we must maintain current medical knowledge to provide high quality medical care.  We do this by encouraging our physicians, physician assistants, and staff to attend educational  conferences at the local, state, and national levels to learn new techniques and review current practices.  One of our members founded a monthly conference on the radiologic characteristics of musculoskeletal disorders.   A sports medicine conference with therapists, trainers, and other orthopaedic surgeons was initiated and continues to be led by our group.  We organized, chaired, and participated in a national orthopaedic update course for the Southern Orthopaedic Association.  Members of our group have held committee positions with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, regionally as two Presidents of the North Carolina Orthopaedic Association, and locally with three past Chiefs of Staff and five chairmen of the Orthopaedic Department of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center; the incoming chairman is a member of our group

We are members of The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, The American College of Surgeons, The American Medical Association, The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, The American College of Sports Medicine, The Arthroscopy Association of North America, The Foot and Ankle Society, The North Carolina Orthopaedic Association, The North Carolina Medical Society, The American Society of Orthopaedic Physician Assistants, the National Board for Certification of Orthopaedic Physician Assistants and many other organizations who focus on continuing medical education.  We maintain close affiliations and frequently consult with faculty of our medical schools (President of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine Alumni Association) and orthopaedic training and fellowship programs (Clinical Assistant Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery at the UNC School of Medicine).

Our Orthopaedic Physician's Assistant and one of our physicians are members of the National Board for the Certification of Orthopaedic Physicians Assistants.  Our Orthopaedic Physicians Assistant is past-president of the American Society of Orthopaedic Physician's Assistants.

Having all received extensive training beyond medical school in prestigious academic medical centers and by maintaining current knowledge through continuing medical education, we seek and believe that we achieve an appropriate, humane, and cost aware balance between being too conservative and too aggressive in our diagnosis and treatment of patients with orthopaedic problems.  For instance, injuries are treated non-surgically when appropriate, but when surgery or special diagnostic tests are indicated, we are prepared to proceed.  Whenever possible, we perform our surgery in a outpatient settings.

In addition to our dedication to medical care, we recognize ourselves as members of our community and demonstrate this through the commitment of our time and resources.  We have been involved in civic clubs (including a Past President of the Wilmington Rotary Club), as Deacons and Elders in our churches, Vocational Rehabilitation (a governor's award for outstanding service to the handicapped), New Hanover County Public Library Advisory Board (Past Chairman), service leagues, auxiliaries, Red Cross, Cape Fear Museum, Wilmington Symphony, UNC-W Seahawk club, trustees of financial institutions, independent school board of trustees (Past President), and Board of Directors of the Committee of 100.

We are the team physicians for all sports at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (over 25 yrs.), New Hanover High School (over 30yrs.), And Cape Fear Academy Rebels (over 25 yrs.), the Wilmington Sharks college all star baseball team (3 years), the Wilmington Indians semiprofessional baseball team (3 years), and Topsail High School (since 1999).  We are involved with the teaching program in the Sports Medicine Department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where two of our members are Adjunct Professors in the Department of Health, Education, and Physical Education.  Members have been recognized through the UNCW Department of Athletics "William J. Brooks Distinguished Service Award" and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association "Unsung Hero Award".  We have served on and chaired the State of North Carolina Public School Superintendent's Commission on Sports Medicine and continue our long service on the Sports Medicine Committee of the North Carolina Medical Society.

We volunteer our medical expertise not only as team physicians but as Director and Staff Members of a monthly Crippled Children's Clinic sponsored by the Wilmington Rotary Club and the Public Health Department and have been on medical missions to third-world countries.  We help provide medical education to fellow health workers, school children, and citizens in general with presentations and classes to nursing home staffs, therapists, church groups, civic clubs, and so on.

In spite of the current challenges in the delivery of health care, we enjoy our work, anticipate that people will continue to need orthopaedic medical care, have enlarged our facility, and have developed a satellite system to meet that need. To meet new challenges, relationships with other orthopaedic surgeons in the region are being strengthened.

We appreciate your interest in our practice.  Your taking the time to evaluate medical groups demonstrates that you are seeking the best possible medical care for your loved ones, your employees, and/or yourself. We are confident that we can deliver optimal care in a cost wise fashion. We look forward to melding our balance of over forty-nine years of experience with the new ideas to meet current and future challenges in medical care. The delivery of high quality, humane, and cost considered orthopaedic medical care are, have always been, and will always be the foundation on which we proudly stand.