Alaskans have many options: most stay in Alaska for health care.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: Orthopedic Medicine

Orthopedic injuries affect people of all ages. From sports injuries sustained in school, to fractures earned by weekend warriors, to joint injuries caused by aging--finding the right orthopedic physician can make a big difference in a person's recovery.

In the past, residents of the Last Frontier often chose to go outside of the state to receive the care they needed. But times have changed, as has the practice of orthopedics in Alaska. "I think that there was a time when people routinely went to Seattle for bigger procedures, but those times are gone," explained board-certified orthopedic surgeon and board-certified sports medicine specialist Gregory L. Schumacher, MD, a physician at Anchorage Fracture and Orthopedic Clinic (AFOC). "Alaska has high-quality health care. Aside from a very few conditions like bony cancers (cancerous tumors related to the bone), which is an extremely rare condition, there's really no reason to go south anymore."

In fact, people come from all over the state to go to orthopedic practices in Anchorage, including Alaska Regional Hospital's Orthopedic and Spine Center, Anchorage Fracture and Orthopedic Clinic and Orthopedic Physicians Anchorage (OPAL).

"I've been very impressed with how widespread our patient base is; we see a tremendous amount of patients from the Prince William Sound area, and we routinely see patients from Barrow and the North Slope," said Schumacher. "There really isn't a part of Alaska from which we haven't treated patients."

"We get patients from all over Alaska, including the Bush, Fairbanks and Juneau areas," adds Kris Keddington, physician liaison, Orthopedic Physicians of Anchorage. "And as a courtesy to our patients who live outside of Anchorage, we also have one of our surgeons travel to Seward once a month to see patients there."

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Some patients from rural Alaska routinely choose Alaska Regional, according to its director of Orthopedic and Rehab Services, Rosemary Kline, RN, who added that patients have come from as far away as New York after researching successful joint-replacement programs.

MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS

There are many reasons to see an orthopedic physician and many options for treatment.

"At Alaska Regional's Orthopedic and Spine Center, we treat a wide range of patients from pediatric to geriatric, whose conditions include joint deterioration, acute and chronic back pain, trauma and fractures," said Kline. "Our staff works together with the goal of...