Soaring Surgery Center

04/03/2026

03/30/2026

Happy Doctor’s Day to Dr. Megan Swanson!

Happy Doctor’s Day to Dr. Megan Swanson, recognized as the best orthopedic surgeon* in Charlottesville, Virginia for the past three years. She is the first female orthopedic surgeon in central Virginia to own her own medical practice and ambulatory surgery center. A graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. Swanson also holds an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Ethics from the University of Virginia. As a pioneer in outpatient knee and hip replacement surgery, Dr. Swanson has been a leader in helping patients return to their activities quickly after surgery.

In central Virginia, Dr. Megan Swanson is:

⚡️ The only orthopedic surgeon with over a decade of experience performing direct anterior hip replacement surgery.

⚡️ The only orthopedic surgeon performing muscle-sparing knee replacement surgery, with over 15 years of experience in that approach.

⚡️ The only orthopedic surgeon performing robotic assisted total and partial knee replacements in an ASC setting.

*Charlottesville Media Group

03/20/2026

Proud to be the surgical home of Thunder Orthopedics!

Happy Friday from Thunder Orthopedics! It’s been a big week for us! By God’s grace, this past week, we performed eight surgeries, including the first:

⚡️Same Day Discharge revision knee replacement!

⚡️ Outpatient knee replacement in a nonagenarian in an ASC!

⚡️ Robotic Patella Femoral replacement in an ASC!

Why do we continue to advance complex robotic surgery in an outpatient setting? Our first patient on Wednesday summed it up well: “it is so nice to get my joint replaced and wake up without the grogginess or pain or nausea and just be able to go home and rest in my own bed.”

Thankful for the outstanding team at Thunder Ortho that continues to ask: what more is possible?

03/09/2026

Soaring Surgery Center is thankful for the clinical leadership of Traci Mahoney, PA-C.

Happy International Women’s Day!

FREE International Women's Day 2026 theme resources -

02/03/2026

Soaring is proud to be the surgical home of Dr. Maria Kirzhner. Happy National Women Physican Day, Dr. Kirzhner!

Oculofacial Surgery & Aesthetics, located in Charlottesville is a private practice committed to helping patients look and feel their best.

02/03/2026

National Women Physician Day is celebrated annually on February 3rd, to honor the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell - the first woman to receive a medical degree in the US in 1849. She advocated for educating young girls and demonstrating empathy in the practice of medicine. She faced extraordinary sexism. Regarding this sexism, Dr. Megan Swanson says: “It is truly shocking and disappointing that the sexism continues. Looking at the large orthopedic groups in our state, one can see that they are consistently almost completely male dominated. That is not an accident and it is not because women are not in the medical field. In fact, more than half of today’s medical students are female.”

Unfortunately, literature indicates that sexism is widespread in orthopedic surgery, with female surgeons facing high rates of gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and a "boys' club" culture. Key challenges include a lack of female mentors, bullying, devaluation of skills, and pressure to conform to male-dominated environments. Dr. Swanson further adds: “If we don’t talk about it, and call it out into the light, then nothing changes. If nothing changes, then orthopedic patients lose out on access to some of the best medical students who choose not to go into orthopedics. Also, we lose the chance to ask better research questions as we know that diverse researchers ask more robust research questions.”

01/16/2026

Happy Three Year Old Birthday, Thunder Orthopedics!

Three years ago today, Thunder Ortho opened its doors for the first time to patients. After more than 17,000 patient visits and 3 Charlottesville’s Finest awards, we asked Dr. Swanson what she has learned starting an independent private ortho practice in these modern times when that is simply not done and not easy.

She said: “Have joy in the journey. God wins in the end. He won’t let us fail.”

01/03/2026

Soaring is proud to be the surgical home of the only female Hip & Knee Orthopedic Surgeon voted by her peers to be a Top Doctor in the state of Virginia.

⚡️ Dr. Megan Swanson ⚡️

From annual checkups to life-saving interventions, physicians guide us through every stage of health — offering expertise, reassurance and care when it matters most. Choosing the right doctor is one of the most important decisions we make, and across Virginia, thousands of dedicated physicians are...

12/24/2025

Merry Christmas 🎄 to our community. We are thankful to be the surgical home of Thunder Orthopedics.

Helping people walk without pain.

Why travel from Verona to Charlottesville?

12/19/2025

Soaring is proud to be the surgical home of Thunder Orthopedics. We provide patients with excellent surgical care without having to be in a hospital environment.

Why travel from Verona to Charlottesville?

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Soaring is especially thankful for our staff!