We practice conservatively and we definitely exhaust every option to take care of the patient before we recommend surgery.
At the Fire Station 21 ribbon-cutting the interim fire chief dubbed the area of Clements Ferry Road as, “the last frontier for the city of Charleston.” If you look at a map, this area is one of the last big fill-in spaces in the city, and it’s growing leaps and bounds. So Lowcountry Orthopaedics, the largest independent orthopedic practice in the tri-county area decided to open an office there.
The new office, located at 1951 Clements Ferry Road, opened officially in October 2017. It operates like their other four locations – one each in North Charleston and Moncks Corner and two in Summerville –as a full-service office seeing patients for joint replacement, spinal issues, shoulder and knee pain, fractures, hand, foot, ankle, sports medicine and pain management treatments.
The CEO of Lowcountry Orthopaedics, Don Becker, said that the decision to open the fifth location in the Clements Ferry Road area was an easy one.
“We are guided by our patients, and we saw that there was a need to open an office in that location due to the growth,” he said. “Now so many patients have the ease and convenience of utilizing that office for all their needs rather than having to drive to either North Charleston, Summerville or Moncks Corner.”
They have partnered with local high schools – Philip Simmons High School and Summerville High School – to help educate athletes on injury prevention but also on what to do after an injury has occurred.
“We stress prevention, but we want them to know we are here if they need to come in,” he said.
In the fall, they hold Black and Blue Clinics on Fridays and Saturdays for walk-in adults and children seeking care from a specialist or physician and who many need X-rays, an MRI, casting, splinting and physical therapy.
It is that immediate access to orthopedic care that the area so badly needed. Lowcountry Orthopaedics will see patients the same day, whereas other doctors might not have an appointment available for several weeks.
When patients do need surgery, Lowcountry Orthopaedics has their own surgery center in Summerville that they can offer as an option to a hospital.
“It is cost-effective and produces excellent outcomes for our patients,” Becker said.
However, if a patient prefers surgery in a hospital, Becker said, that can be arranged as well.
“Since we are independent, we can give the patient the choice of which hospital they prefer,” Becker said.
Becker pointed out that, fortunately, about 60 percent of Lowcountry Orthopaedics’ patients do not require surgery.
“We practice conservatively and we definitely exhaust every option to take care of the patient before we recommend surgery,” he said.
They also look for alternatives to pain management before they prescribe pain medication, including the spinal cord stimulator.
“We have two pain-management specialists who can assist patients with alternatives to medication, which can become problematic,” Becker explained.
Lowcountry Orthopaedics started in North Charleston in 1975 with only two doctors, Dr. Joel Cox and Dr. James McCoy – both of whom are still with the practice. There now are 28 providers at the five locations.
“We are deeply rooted in the community and we love serving our patients,” Becker concluded.
By Theresa Stratford
