State Of The Art Procedures Combined With Personalized Care

Marin General Hospital’s Orthopedic Specialty Program offers a comprehensive approach to total orthopedic care that has one simple goal: to get patients back to their normal lives as quickly as possible.

The program achieves this through the use of state of the art equipment and technology and the use of minimally invasive surgery for the more common surgical procedures such as total joint replacement -- one of the many procedures performed at daily at the hospital.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Peter Barry, chair of MGH’s Orthopedic Division, said, “ Our patients receive the kind of personalized care that can only be found in a community hospital, yet we offer them the quality of technique that they could get at a large university hospital without the stress of commuting across a bridge.”

The skilled team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and physical/occupational therapists and discharge planners are there for patients every step of the way.

To further integrate the program, the new position of nurse coordinator was established to help patients through their treatment and recovery process.

The coordinator serves as an educator and advocate -- making sure patients receive all of the services they’ll need for a speedy return to their normal lives.

Janet Melka, RN, CNOR, accepted the coordinator’s role after serving as a patient care provider at MGH for nearly 20 years and as a member of the teams that developed the hospital’s Surgery Center and the Marin Heart Institute.

“We are with our patients and follow them throughout the course of their treatment at Marin General,” Melka said. “Our patients will never be alone. We will take excellent care of them.”

An Experienced Team Helps Patients

Barry said, “Our team of 10 Board Certified orthopedic surgeons and the rest of our highly knowledgeable staff cares for patients from pre-surgical evaluation to surgery and rehabilitation.”

The team has performed more than 4,000 orthopedic surgical procedures since 2003.

Each of the surgeons has received training in specific procedures, such as minimally invasive knee and hip replacement and back surgery, he said. “Our anesthesiologists are also Board Certified and have extensive experience in orthopedic anesthesia.”

(Anesthesia Consultants of Marin, a Marin General based anesthesia group, provides comprehensive, personal, state of the art, advanced anesthesia care for a wide variety of cases including general orthopedic and total joint replacements. All ACM physicians are diplomates of the American Board of Anesthesiologists and provide anesthesia that results in the patient being comfortable, awake and without recall at the conclusion of their surgical procedure.)

The nursing team is comprised of dedicated, specially trained surgical orthopedic nurses, Barry said. The physical therapists and occupational therapists all have many years of experience in helping patients, he added.
“All of us know how to do our jobs the right way,” he said, “and this means that our patients will receive the very best care that we can provide.”

Services Span Full Range Of Treatments

Orthopedic services span the full range of treatment for hip, knee, spine, shoulder, and arm and leg problems. “We treat sports injuries, falls and fractures, arthritic conditions, and trauma,” Melka said.

“Our team uses minimally invasive surgery techniques and instruments that result in smaller, muscle-sparing incisions; less pain; and faster recovery,” Barry said. “Using this technique for replacing knee and hip joints means that most patients will be up and walking, very often the same day.”

Using minimally invasive surgery for a total hip replacement, for example, means the incision is only about three to five inches compared to a foot long incision used in the traditional procedure.

Pre Surgical Education Helps Patients Know What To Expect

Helping patients understand what’s going to happen to them before, during and after surgery is a key part of the Integrated Orthopedic Specialty Program, Melka said.

“Patients need to know what to expect,” she said. “This helps to reduce their anxiety and prepares them for what they have to do.”

The pre surgery process includes:

• Pre-admission nurses contact patients to verbally assess their medical histories and make surgical arrangements.


• Two weeks prior to surgery, patients attend special education sessions conducted by physical and occupational therapists and the nursing staff to learn what to expect both during their surgical stays and following discharge.


• The anesthesiologists will talk with patients prior to surgery to assess their medical conditions and needs to provide the appropriate anesthesia care.