01/14/2026
Most anyone in a major metropolitan area would go to a joint surgeon for a hip replacement, a sports surgeon for an ACL surgery, and a hand surgeon for their carpal tunnel release; so why wouldn’t we want the same specialized treatment for a broken bone? The Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) became incorporated in 1985, with several founding pioneers from right here in the Twin Cities. The OTA has had advanced training one-year fellowships for decades, with a certification process that goes back about fifteen years. Fracture surgery is complicated, times and technology move quickly, and most importantly the delivery of orthopaedic trauma care is challenging, resource-intensive, and requires major hospital investment and cultural change to execute properly. Wouldn’t you want a Fracture Surgeon treating your broken bone, someone who has dedicated their career to the discipline?
My vision was for patients with broken bones, from anywhere in our metropolitan Twin Cities, to land in hospitals with dedicated fracture care hospitals and surgeons. I wasn’t interested in helping to “staff call” at a bunch of hospitals, but I was motivated to help build proper Ortho Trauma Programs in such hospitals. I would bet that Minnesota has become The Safest State to Break a Bone, and you can read about how this came about fresh off the press, in this The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM Catalyst) article, "The NorthStar Trauma Network: An Orthopedic Care Network across Three Health Systems."
🔗Read Here: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.24.0516
