Nashville (Tenn.) – The new Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Clinic is now open for business in Franklin, Tenn. Developed by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the new clinic provides orthopaedic care in hand, spine, shoulder and sports medicine, in addition to on-site physical therapy and occupational therapy.
The new clinic, located in the Vanderbilt Walk-in Clinic facility at 919 Murfreesboro Road in Franklin, opened the first week in March, according to Kurt Spindler, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Sports Medicine Center.
"We recognize that 20 percent of our patients in orthopaedics in Nashville come from the Franklin area, and we want to give them more convenient access to physicians, rehabilitation and imaging," said Spindler, professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. "We are now providing sub-specialty access to orthopaedics in a convenient location to an expanding population in Williamson County."
Five orthopaedic specialists are at the Vanderbilt Orthopaedics Clinic. By the end of March, two physical therapists will join the Franklin clinic, along with one certified athletic trainer.
Spindler says some surgery will be done in the Cool Springs Outpatient Clinic in Franklin, while more major surgeries will be done at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
"Our goal is to give patients choices for highly specialized orthopaedic health care, with rehabilitation and physicians within a half hour of a patient’s home," Spindler said.
Supplying care for the hand are Douglas R. Weikert, M.D., and Jeffry T. Watson, M.D., both assistant professors of Orthopaedics at VUMC. Weikert specializes in hand and upper extremity reconstruction, acute hand trauma, micro vascular surgery reimplantation and congenital hand deformities. Watson specializes in hand and upper extremity reconstruction.
Tarek Elalayli, M.D., assistant professor of Orthopaedics at VUMC, is specializing in degenerative, traumatic and neoplastic conditions that affect the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine at the Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Clinic in Franklin.
Providing sports medicine care at the Franklin location are Kurt P. Spindler, M.D., who serves as the health team physician for Vanderbilt University, and Gene A. Hannah, M.D., assistant professor of Orthopaedics at VUMC. Treating both amateur and professional athletes, Hannah combines evaluation, monitoring and non-surgical solutions with an emphasis on patient education, nutrition counseling, proper athletic form, medication and physical therapy.
"This is a full-time project we have developed in Franklin," said Spindler. "We are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling 250-2290.
"We plan to make this a major practice site for Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, providing all the specialists we have to offer. We want Williamson County patients to know we are down in Franklin, ready to take care of them."
Contact: John Howser, 615-322-4747
john.howser@vanderbilt.edu
