Dr. Joe Smith, 1946-2010

Dr. Joe Smith died Saturday.

Joe suffered much these past two years, a consequence of the accident that left him paralyzed in 2008. He was in and out of the hospital frequently, and it was easy to get discouraged. He acknowledges being discouraged -- and also being extremely grateful -- in his last, inspiring message. It was posted yesterday on the website of Syracuse Orthopedic Surgeons (SOS).

Joe was supported by a great family, especially his wife Carol, and his children. Carol cared unselfishly for Joe though all the difficulties. Joe was also supported by his friends, a loyal and steady tribe, many of whom have known him from childhood. They stayed in touch, visiting him, offering words of encouragement, helping the family.

When he retired as an orthopedic surgeon in 2005, Dr. Smith was a larger-than-life figure, having succeeded Dr. Bob Lockwood as Chair of Orthopedics. He was honored with an award from the Community General Foundation, and he served on the Community General Board of Directors.

After retirement, Joe loved to work in his garden. It was an avocation he shared with his father-in-law, about whom Joe always spoke with much affection and respect. Joe often brought a box of fresh vegetables when we met for lunch at Luigi’s Restaurant on Valley Drive. Luigi's was one of his favorite haunts.

Last January at the dedication of Community’s new Center for Orthopedics, speaker after speaker paid tribute to Joe, whose leadership helped shape orthopedic excellence at the hospital. Later that day, I gave a DVD copy of the dedication ceremony to State Senator John DeFrancisco, Joe’s high school classmate and lifelong friend. He took the disc with him when he visited Joe the following day. It was great that Joe was able to hear the words spoken in his honor and to see the new Center, “but it was very bittersweet to sit and watch it with him,” the Senator later told me.

“If you are reading or listening to this,” Joe writes in his final message, “I am no longer present in this world but hopefully moved on to a better spiritual place. I’d like to thank you, I’d like to thank everyone for their help and consideration and especially their love.”

Our thoughts are with you, Joe, and with Carol, your family and your friends.

He practically invented orthopedics here

After Dr. Robert Lockwood completed a total hip replacement on my mother (some 25 years ago), she observed, "It's my best part." Mom has also been known to say (to this day) what a gentleman is Dr. Lockwood and how much confidence she had in him.

A few days ago I was reminded of Dr. Lockwood's work and accomplishments when I saw him, as trim and fit as ever, standing in Community General Hospital's new Center for Orthopedics. He was visiting a patient there.

It was Dr. Lockwood who performed the first joint replacement surgery at Community General, decades ago. He performed the first rotator cuff surgery, and he was the first to use a halo device (surgeons at Upstate Medical Center would borrow the frame).

Dr. Lockwood was Community's chair of orthopedics from 1975-1982. He recruited to the hospital younger doctors who went on to play significant roles: Dr. Joe Smith succeeded Dr. Lockwood as chairman of the department, and Dr. Perry Cooke went on to lead Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists.

After he retired from private practice in 1988, Dr. Lockwood continued working as the Director of the Orthopedic Clinic at University Hospital in Syracuse. He had been a faculty member at Upstate Medical Center (now, Upstate Medical University) since 1953. That was the year he graduated from orthopedic residency at Northwestern University in Chicago and began his practice in Syracuse. At Upstate he was promoted to a full professor in 1988, and he didn't retire from there until -- last October!

A curious, energetic, and active man, Dr. Lockwood was legendary for climbing the Himalayan mountains (four times!) and for scuba diving in the Dead Sea. He traveled to Jordan on a medical mission and worked in a small hospital in Jerusalem. In China he once taught for a month at a medical school in Kunming (there was no heat, electricity, or running water at the time).

Dr. Lockwood skied, he swam, he hiked, he rowed, and he played tennis. He still cross country skis . . . and hikes . . . and rows.

As he concluded his practice at Community, I asked a photographer to accompany Dr. Lockwood on his last OR case. Afterwards I sent him several prints (see one, at right). "You have earned the respect of your colleagues and coworkers," I wrote him, "and the gratitude of your many patients -- including my own mother."

Dr. Joe Smith & the Center for Orthopedics

There were many poignant moments at Thursday's ribbon cutting for the new Center for Orthopedics as dignitaries recognized the work of Dr. Joseph Smith, a retired member of the medical staff who was severely injured in an accident in 2008.

Dr. Smith served as chairman of the orthopedics department at Community General Hospital for many years. He helped lay the foundation for the service that was recognized last week for its high quality.

That's Dr. Smith in the operating room photo, taken about 2004. He is second from the left.

Praise for Dr. Smith began with Board chair Steve Infanti, who was at the podium to receive awards recognizing the quality of Community's orthopedics program.

The first award was presented by Dr. Marybeth McCall, regional chief medical officer for Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Excellus' BlueDistinction designation recognizes the quality of Community's spine surgery, as well as its hip and knee replacement surgery.

Allison Leavey of HealthGrades presented Steve with the overall orthopedics excellence award, earned by Community for the fourth straight year. Ms. Leavey also acknowledged HealthGrades' honors for Community's spine surgery, hip and knee replacements, and hip fracture repair.

In accepting the awards, Steve paid tribute to Dr. Smith for the quality of orthopedics, as well as for the growth of the orthopedics service.

Dr. Rick Zogby, chair of orthopedics, in the photo at left, followed Steve with his own spontaneous and heartfelt tribute to his colleague and friend, Dr. Smith.

This was echoed by another speaker, State Senator John DeFrancisco, in the photo below, who told the audience of his lifelong friendship with Dr. Smith. The Senator and the doctor were students together at Christian Brothers Academy years ago.

Following the ribbon cutting by Chief Nursing Officer Christine Stryker, orthopedic nurse manager Wendy Osgood, and area dignitaries, guests and colleagues toured the 25,000 square-foot Center for Orthopedics, which features 36 private rooms and a spacious gym overlooking downtown Syracuse and Onondaga Lake.

The Center features many improvements, among them:

- A silent nurse call system to reduce noise for patients.

- Decentralized nursing stations so professional staff is close to patients.

- Ergonomic flooring for the nurses who spend so much time on their feet.

- A physical therapy gym to help patients recover faster and more comfortably.

- Wi-fi Internet access for all patients.

- Tempur-Pedic mattresses on beds that can help prevent falls and even weigh patients.

- PVC-free wall covering and vinyl-free flooring.

- LED down lights and other features to conserve power.

- Plumbing that reduces water consumption.

The Center for Orthopedics was funded by $7.6 million from a grant awarded under New York State's Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law (HEAL). The HEAL grant was given to Community for its compliance with the decisions of the Commission on Healthcare Facilities for the 21st Century ("Berger Commission").

My thanks, especially to Ken Redmore, Community's Director of Facilities and Construction, who managed the project from start to finish, through design, bidding, build-out, including all state approvals and coordination. He brought the project to completion on time and within budget.

There were many colleagues and friends at the opening ceremonies, and I appreciated the presence, among them, of Dr. Paul Kronenberg, president and CEO of Crouse Hospital -- Community General's prospective merger partner.

As lovely as the new Center is, we all know that facilities alone do not assure excellence. Only people do that. Community's orthopedics service relies upon its excellent people: from the orthopedic surgeons, to the operating room and nursing staff, as supported by physical therapists, other ancillary staff, and the entire support team.

It is great to see our staff recognized and our patients the beneficiaries of an excellent facility. They begin to use the new Center this week.

Center for Orthopedics nears completion

There's been great progress on Community's Center for Orthopedics, now under construction as 36 private rooms on the hospital's sixth floor.

Sheet rock has been installed, room finishes are in progress, tile is on bathroom walls, and flooring and millwork is about to stat.

The design is by King & King Architects and the construction manager is Heuber Breuer Cosntruction.

With the work more than 60% complete, we are looking for patient occupancy as early as February 1.

HealthGrades rates Community the number one hospital for orthopedic surgery in New York State.

Top honors in orthopedics, maternity & prostate surgery

For 2009/2010, HealthGrades has awarded Community General its Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award, one of just two hospitals in New York State so designated.

HealthGrades gives its five-star honors to Community's total hip and total knee joint replacement surgery, to the back & neck surgery (for spinal fusion and for surgeries without fusion), and to our repair of hip fractures. Community has received the highest honors in orthopedics for five consecutive years – recognizing the excellence of our growing orthopedic service. A new Center for Orthopedics will open on Community's sixth floor early next year.

Community also gets HealthGrades' top honors in Maternity Care, one of 21 New York hospitals to receive its Maternity Service Excellence designation.

With the busiest robot-assisted surgery in Syracuse, Community is also the only Syracuse hospital five-star rated in prostate surgery.

My thanks and congratulations for these honors goes to Community's physicians and nurses, and to the supporting staff. Working together they have helped achieve (and increase the number of) high marks we receive.

Sign of progress

A sign of progress at Community this week is the construction crane outside the Emergency Department. The crane is working on the Center for Orthopedics, which is under construction on the sixth floor.

The new Center should be ready for its first patients in January 2010.

The project is made possible by a $7.6 million state grant, part of a larger award made for Community General Hospital and Van Duyn Home & Hospital in compliance with the recommendations of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century (the Berger Commission).

Our orthopedic growth

Today, I announced the start of construction on a new sixth-floor Center for Orthopedics, funded with $7.6 million from a New York State HEAL grant. The funds come from New York State, as a result of our voluntary compliance with the recommendations of the Berger Commission (Commission on Healthcare Facilities in the 21st Century).

The construction project will generate up to 150 jobs this year, and the finished center will help us respond to the growth in our orthopedics service. See the story in today's Post-Standard.

From 2005 to 2008, our orthopedic inpatient cases have grown by over 50%. Here are the numbers of inpatients, discharged from Community General Hospital over that period [1]:

2005- 1,236
2006 -1,346
2007 -1,777
2008 -1,882

Last year our hospital served orthopedic patients from 19 counties and from out-of-state as well.
As a result of our patient growth, the orthopedic patient care unit moved from 4 West to a larger 4 North three years ago. Next year it will relocate to the brand new Center for Orthopedics on both Six East & West.

The new Center will have:

▪ 36 private rooms that can flex up to 40 patients at high census.

▪ Decentralized nursing stations in three pods.

▪ All new spacious patient rooms with state-of-the-art beds that help prevent falls and facilitate skin care.

▪ An expanded physical therapy area.

▪ Modern electronics for electronic medical records (EMR), Computer Provider Order Entry (CPOE), and wireless service.

▪ A nurse call system with wireless phones to reduce ambient noise and connect patients directly with nurses.

▪ Design by King & King Architects, the same team that designed our award-winning Jim and DeDe Walsh Family Birth Center.

The rending shows a patient room in the new facility. Hueber-Breuer Construction is managing the build-out.

Many thanks go to the operating room orthopedic staff nurses for helping establish our excellent reputation. They are backed by great therapy and support teams.

And my special acknowledgment goes to our orthopedic surgeons whose skill and trust in our hospital and staff have helped build our growing regional reputation for outstanding care:

Spine Care
Thomas R. Haher, MD
Warren Wulff, MD
Richard Zogby, M.D.

Sports, General Orthopedic Services, &Joint Replacement
Todd C. Battaglia, MD
John J. Cambareri, MD
C. Perry Cooke III, MD
P. James Newman, MD
Joseph A. Smith, MD (past department chair, not currently in practice)

Hand & Upper Extremity
John F. Fatti, MD
Walter H. Short, MD

Joint Care & Surgery
Stephen P. Bogosian, MD (department chair)
Michael T. Clarke, MD
Michael Vella, MD

Foot & Ankle
Frederick R. Lemley, M.D.

[1] Sources of data: HANYS Market Expert, 2005-2007; Hospital financial services, 2009