Orthocarolina – Monroe

I very recently fell and broke my wrist in two places. Instead of going to urgent care I went to Orthocarolina and very glad I did. They fit me in right away with a phone call. As soon as I was finished answering medical questions on the tablet that they hand out, I was called into the exam room. Then I never had a moment to get restless, I was examined by the nurse, sent immediately to get x-​rays, and then Dr. Briones came in as I was sitting down. The nurse put a cast on my arm as soon as the doctor left. All in all I was in and out in 45 minutes! Not joking! Get people and great care!

Our child was referred here from Levine’s Urgent Care Monroe for elbow fracture (s). Levine’s seemed concerned about needing surgery that day, but OrthoCarolina (OC) Monroe’s physician’s assistant, O’Keefe, was strikingly relaxed, explaining that the arm could be splinted & wait. Two days later, our son was seen by another relaxed physician’s assistant, Cofer, at OC Ballentine, and he explained that our child could be resplinted & wait 8 days from injury for closed surgery. It seems as though physician assistants may be making decisions instead of surgeons. Despite our child being shuffled between many appointments with Dr. Clark, physical therapists, physician assistants, and a specialist consultation appointment with Dr. Gaston, our child still can’t put his palm down. (Imagine you have a permanent handshake-​like elbow angle.) This impacts activities like playing basketball or how one would take change from a cashier’s hand. OrthoCarolina recommended more surgery, but by going to top medical schools & hospitals, we learned that more surgery is risky, because OrthoCarolina failed to identify a serious post surgical problem with bone in the wrong spot (synostosis). We were told by concerned & experienced surgeons that sometimes it is best to accept a poor surgical outcome. —– There is a helpful healthcare industry movie called DISCLOSURE, only available via SorryWorks! Facebook site, which explains poor medical outcomes. Other ideas for problems. #1) consider calling a NC teaching hospital for a «specialist.» (In-​state, UNC was quite helpful. Out-​of-​state, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia agreeably did their consultation via telephone. «#2) Consider private physical therapists (Standouts are St. George Physical Therapy & Matthews Physical Therapy) #3) Medical record errors occur, so quickly purchase & read all records. When you get copies of xrays, make sure views are individually listed on the disc. If you went to an urgent care facility 1^st, you may need to get records there also. #4) Don’t delay if you suspect problems. If needed, Facebook’s ProPublica Patient Safety Group has members who offer advice & a «SurgeonScorecard» form for reporting errors. Novant Matthew’s Medical Library assists with research. Good luck & let’s post all experiences to help others!