When Drs. Patrick Boyett and Bill Lawrence were attending med school together at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, (better known as KCUMB,) they dreamed of becoming partners in a general orthopedic practice. That dream became a reality, and the first OrthoSports clinic opened at a beautiful facility in the Limestone Medical Village on Hwy 72, across from Publix. In the last 4 years, OrthoSports Athens has added team members and locations, and is putting the finishing touches on a new facility on Hwy 72 in Rogersville, due to open September 6th. Drs. Boyett and Lawrence have built a solid reputation as joint replacement surgeons, and the Athens Limestone Hospital OR purchased a special state of the art table for them to use for their surgeries. Dr. Boyett and Dr. Lawrence are excited about the growth of OrthoSports Athens, as well as their ability to serve the community even more.
There are three new physicians who are part of the OrthoSports team. Dr. Eric Standford, D.O., concentrates on sports medicine, and did a year long fellowship at the prestigious Hughston Clinic in Georgia. By the way, OrthoSports now serves as the team physicians for sporting events at West Limestone High, Athens High, Ardmore High, and Elkmont High schools.
Dr. Blake Boyett is Dr. Patrick Boyett’s nephew, and his specialty is spine surgery. He will be joining the crew next week. He has completed two fellowships, and is the only member of the OrthoSports team that will do spine surgery. He will be able to greatly increase their scope of practice and service.
Dr. Jason Hatfield is the non-surgical physician at OrthoSports, and also deals with sports medicine and sports related injuries such as sprains and breaks, and for several years served as the Medical Director of Carraway Northwest Wound Care Center, located in Winfield, AL. He is now the Medical Director for the Advanced Wound Care Center as a service of Athens-Limestone Hospital. When you add it up, the OrthoSports physicians have more than 45 years of combined experience, and they all genuinely enjoy serving the people of Alabama.
I spoke at length with Eddie Ayers, who has been with them from the beginning, and who wears a number of “OrthoSports hats,” especially with regard to getting the Rogersville location up and running on time. While not a doctor, Eddie’s background is Emergency Room radiology, and he had a great deal of enthusiasm for all that is happening at OrthoSports. He still handles some of the X-ray work, and is the office manager at the Athens location, as well as the operations manager for all the clinics. In addition to Athens, there is a clinic in Winfield, the new one in Rogersville, and they consider the OR at Athens-Limestone Hospital to be their “fourth location.” A new service that OrthoSports now offers is through a company called Brace Yourself. With all the unsettling changes and cost increases that have occurred with medical insurance, Brace Yourself presents an opportunity for patients in need of various types braces, air casts, sleeves, etc, to pay cash for them at barely over cost. “It has saved our patients money and frustration, and they are very happy with it,” Eddie told me.
Regarding OrthoSports and the new Rogersville location, Eddie said, “This is going to be a top quality facility in a rural setting, something that doesn’t happen often. The OrthoSports doctors are going to rotate so they are in Rogersville every week. That way, you are getting physicians who have won awards and who graduated at the top of their class taking care of patients who won’t have to make the drive into Athens, unless it’s for surgery.” He also told me that “OrthoSports has proven that you don’t have to go out of town to get the best care, in fact, because they are in a position to spend more time with their patients, word of mouth advertising has brought patients to them from all around.”
Eddie is in a unique position because he knows everyone so well, and can vouch for their level of skill, their integrity, as well as their bedside manner. “I have hunted with them, fished with them, and they really do things right. I know it might sound like a cliché, but they put the needs of the patient before their own,” he said. He added that he “has heard them even mention concerns for patients while they were supposed to be taking a break and eating lunch, and are known to go to the hospital after hours or call to check on patients. Their practice is truly their passion.”
In addition to the surgical table at the hospital, they have new ultrasound equipment that is much clearer, as well as X-ray services that utilize a fraction of the radiation formerly needed, and that also boast a clearer image. They will also be adding a mobile C-arm surgical platform to the hospital’s OR later this year. “We try to be on the cutting edge of technology while giving a level of care that is hard to find these days,” said Eddie. If this is what you are looking for in orthopedic care, then OrthoSports is where you going to find it, and now in Rogersville, too.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
