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Steamboat Magazine

Up and Running with Steamboat Orthopaedic & Spine Institute

05/20/2021 10:59AM ● By Steamboat Orthopaedic & Spine Institute

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO – An improved patient experience, lower healthcare costs and more efficient collaboration among physicians represent just a few of the benefits that Steamboat Orthopaedic & Spine Institute (SOSI) offers with its state-of-the-art clinic, imaging and surgery center. SOSI’s mission is to provide the optimal integrated patient experience in surgery, treatment, recovery and rehabilitation from head to toe. The combined expertise of SOSI’s medical and support staff provides exceptional care in a personal and professional manner.

Orthopaedic care in Steamboat Springs came together in 2018 when the physicians from Steamboat Orthopaedic Associates and Orthopaedics of Steamboat Springs united to form Steamboat Orthopaedic and Spine Institute, a team of world-class specialty surgeons bringing an unprecedented level of fellowship-trained medical professionals to the Yampa Valley.

Located in the Wildhorse Marketplace, SOSI is a 27,000 square-foot dedicated medical facility which includes both the SOSI clinic and Steamboat Surgery Center, an ambulatory surgery center (ASC). The SOSI building delivers an innovative facility to the Yampa Valley that is tantamount to any in Colorado or the region, where procedure rooms, therapy space, MRI and an ambulatory surgery center now coexist in one place. Responsible for the project are SOSI’s five partner surgeons: Drs. Michael Sisk, Andreas Sauerbrey, Alexander Meininger, Patrick Johnston and Clint Devin.

“The SOSI building is a key piece in providing a better patient experience for orthopaedic care,” Dr. Johnston states. “It has changed the way we deliver care with everything — office, MRI and surgery — being offered in one location for patients.”

Michael Sisk, MD | Andreas Sauerbrey, MD | Alexander K. Meininger, MD | Patrick Johnston, DO | Clinton Devin, MD | Alexis Tracy, DO | Alejandro Miranda, MD | William Howarth, MD | Not Pictured: Adam Wilson, MD, Kaare Kolstad, MD, Darin Allred, MD.

 

Steamboat Surgery Center, Yampa Valley’s First ASC

The first floor of the building encompasses Steamboat Surgery Center, an ambulatory surgery center, the result of a partnership between SOSI and UCHealth. ASCs generally have several advantages over a hospital, including more personalized care, lower costs of outpatient surgeries, minimized waiting time for patient scheduling, more pricing transparency, less bureaucracy, improved outcomes and patient experience. In addition, an ASC typically has about 30% lower facility fees than a hospital, and in some cases, no facility fees are applicable to certain in-office surgeries. A dedicated orthopaedic ASC can lower the cost of care and keep healthy outpatient surgeries in a facility where patients aren’t exposed to sickness common to shared hospital settings.

“We’re providing the tip-of-the-spear world-class care, but we want to keep costs down as much as possible,” Dr. Sisk states.

When a patient has surgery at Steamboat Surgery Center, they will have a patient experience that has actually been created by their surgeons, Dr. Johnston states. With very little bureaucracy in an ASC setting, patient feedback can quickly lead to changes for improvements in care. Surgery centers also provide a more concierge-type experience than the often-intimidating environment of a hospital.

SOSI Physicians and Specialties 

SOSI physicians bring a multitude of orthopaedic specialties and a comprehensive spine program to the Yampa Valley. The clinic is located on the second floor of the SOSI building where patients are seen by SOSI physicians and their team members for orthopaedic care, neck and spine consults, pain management, occupational therapy, physical therapy, office appointments, injections and more.

The spine program, led by Dr. Clint Devin, a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, and Dr. Alexis Tracy, a board-certified non-operative spine specialist, provides patients with total spine care with the goal of helping patients return back to normal activities with an improved quality of life. Drs. Devin and Tracy collaborate to offer their patients treatment options ranging from non-operative in-office procedures, minimally invasive procedures and treatments for lumbar-disc herniations, to spinal surgeries, including spinal fusions. According to Dr. Tracy, SOSI also has plans to add regenerative medicine techniques, including stem cell therapy, to the range of treatment options as a part of the spine program.

Dr. Patrick Johnston, a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who is fellowship-trained in hand and elbow orthopaedic surgery, assists patients in navigating through injuries dealing with hand and elbow issues, including carpal tunnel syndrome, thumb arthritis and trigger finger. Dr. Johnston specializes in hand, elbow and microvascular surgery, and in addition to surgery, offers his patients non-operative treatment options including injections and hand therapy. Dr. Johnston has also been trained in WALENT surgeries (wide awake, local anesthesia, no tourniquet), which he says allows him to obtain feedback from his patients during the procedure and in some cases allows him to do procedures in his office procedure room rather than a hospital, which is more cost-effective and makes for a more comfortable patient experience.

Dr. Michael Sisk is a graduate of University of Colorado Medical School with a residency in orthopaedics, where he was an associate professor for orthopaedics. He is currently a fellow with the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and specializes in joint replacement, foot and ankle and sports medicine. Dr. Sisk brings over 20 years’ experience that keep him at the forefront of orthopaedic medicine, including working as a U.S. Ski Team physician. Knee and hip joint replacements are commonly performed by SOSI, and Dr. Sisk’s expertise in that area includes customized knee replacements. Dr. Sisk notes that the precision offered customized joint implants, as offered by SOSI, are important to maintain alignment of the new knee, which is critical to longevity.

Dr. Bryan Bomberg, who attended University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed his residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, specializes in hip, knee and shoulder procedures. Dr. Bomberg became the first Air Force orthopaedic surgeon to complete a sports medicine/reconstruction fellowship at the Harvard Program of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Bomberg began his practice in Steamboat Springs in 1993 and was instrumental in bringing a dedicated joint-replacement program to the Yampa Valley, a program based on exceptional patient experience and a collaborative continuum of care, with the goal of getting patients back to their life.

Dr. Andreas Sauerbrey, who completed his Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and Hand Fellowship training at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, brings over 20 years’ experience specializing in upper extremity conditions, and has a vast array of treatment options including arthroscopic surgery, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy and other non-surgical options.

Drs. Michael Sisk, Alex Meininger, Andreas Sauerbrey, Bryan Bomberg, Adam Wilson and Alejandro Miranda all practice in the area of sports medicine and knee injuries, completing SOSI as a one-stop shop for all orthopaedic needs with care offered by exceptional physicians, all housed in one location.

SOSI’s Imaging Center

SOSI’s cutting edge imaging suite is located on the first floor of the building and features the brand-new GE 1.5 Tesla Signa Voyager MRI scanner. The Voyager produces high resolution images at faster speeds, which decreases the time a patient spends in the MRI scanner. The new scanner also features motion correction and noise-reduction technologies, a wider bore that provides more interior spatial comfort for the patient, an option for head or foot entrance and a two-way intercom system, all of which make for a significantly more comfortable patient experience.



The SOSI clinic also houses two new high definition X-ray machines, the latest generation GE Digital Radiography units. The technology minimizes the need for retakes, which minimizes radiological exposure for patients and delivers images in unprecedented anatomical detail.

SOSI Offers a Complete Array of Exceptional Spine and Orthopaedic Care to Patients in Yampa Valley and Beyond 

SOSI now has more resources to achieve goals such as improved patient care, patient experience, access to care and affordability. SOSI’s innovative and comprehensive model of patient care brings together procedure rooms, therapy space, an imaging center and an ambulatory surgery center all in one place, allowing SOSI to provide world-class care in a more affordable, intimate setting.

“I want my patients to feel like they’re being treated as family,” Dr. Sisk states. “We offer the best care available, and it’s highly personalized, so you’re never going to be just a number in our office.”

To schedule an appointment or consultation with a SOSI physician call SOSI at 970-879-6663.