Carilion Clinic Update

By Trevor Owen, MD

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Carilion Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery have seen continued growth over the past year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with other hospitals across Virginia, our department halted elective surgeries for a period of approximately three months and have continued to learn to adjust to practice in our “new normal.”

During these initial months of lockdown, Carilion Clinic was able to significantly expand our TeleHealth capabilities and have exponentially increased the number of virtual visits. Though initially difficult to adjust, we hope these developments will continue to help our patients in outlying areas and nursing facilities, who find it difficult to travel for their visits. We have taken many steps to ensure patient safety during outpatient visits and elective hospital procedures. Clinic templates have been adjusted to limit the number of patients in our waiting areas, patients are being asked to wait in their car prior to coming in for their visit, and are screened at the front door prior to entering the building. For elective procedures, we now include a period of isolation and COVID-19 testing prior to surgery.

After an initial period of reduced patient volumes, we are now exceeding our pre-COVID-19 volumes with surgical volumes at 115% and clinical volumes at 103% during the month of July. In the spring, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine was approved to expand the class from 42 to 49 students. We look forward to another year of growth with the addition of multiple new providers across our system.

New Hire Physicians
George A. Godette, MD General, Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital, September 2019
Linda T. Kirilenko, MD Hand & Upper Extremity, Carilion Medical Center, January 2020
Steve G. Steffan, DPM Foot & Ankle, Carilion Medical Center, March 2020
Michael P. O’Malley, MD Sports Medicine, Carilion Medical Center, August 2020
Ryan M. Putnam, MD Foot & Ankle, Carilion Medical Center, August 2020
Cody Evans, MD Trauma, Carilion Medical Center, September 2020
Richard Weiss, MD Physician Medicine & Rehabilitation, Carilion Medical Center, October 2020
Megan Severson, MD Orthopaedic Pediatrics, Carilion Medical Center, November 2020
John Martino, MD Adult Reconstruction, Carilion Medical Center, November 2020
Mark Coggins, MD Orthopaedic Spine, Carilion Medical Center, January 2021

New Hire Advanced Care Practitioners
Amelia Rode, PA-C Bone Health Clinic, Carilion Medical Center, February 2020
Karlie DiRuzza, PA-C, Sports Medicine, Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, March 2020
Ryan Short, PA-C Adult Reconstruction, Carilion Medical Center, June 2020
Lindsey Grealish, PA-C Adult Reconstruction, Carilion Medical Center, June 2020

2020-2021 Fellows:
Adult Reconstruction Fellowship:
Donald Allen, MD
Daniel Sveom, MD

Hand Surgery Fellowship:
Beren Tomooka, MD