As the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation continues to grow, faculty are expanding services to reach more of the community, including an increase in orthopaedic care at Bellevue Medical Center.
"We are all very excited about an expanded role at Bellevue," said Chris Cornett, MD, associate professor and vice chair of clinical services in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation. "We feel this is a great opportunity to provide increased access for our patients in that region of the metro and provide increased trauma care in the area."
Located just south of Omaha, Bellevue Medical Center is a Nebraska Medicine health care facility that includes 91 inpatient beds and more than 250 specialists on staff. Physicians come from academic, private practice and military communities, creating a collaborative environment.
Upon joining the department in 2018, Katie Freeman, MD, assistant professor, was the first department faculty member with a Bellevue-only practice. Dr. Freeman is fellowship-trained in sports medicine and provides specialty care for patients with athletic injuries as well as providing general orthopaedic care. She is joined by several primary care sports medicine physicians and orthopaedic advanced practice providers.
The presence of adult reconstruction services at Bellevue continues to grow with Curtis Hartman, MD, associate professor, and Beau Kildow, MD, assistant professor, who joined the department in August following a fellowship at OrthoCarolina Hip and Knee Center. Three faculty members specializing in hand, wrist and upper extremity also provide surgeries and clinic at Bellevue—Daniel Firestone, MD, assistant professor, Joseph Morgan, MD, assistant professor, and Philipp Streubel, MD, associate professor.
The department plans to add spine clinics at Bellevue as early as next summer. Starting this fall, orthopaedic faculty will begin covering the trauma call at Bellevue Medical Center, which has the third busiest emergency room in the Omaha metro area.
"We look to have an expanding role at Bellevue over the next several years, including more providers and more ambulatory orthopaedics," Dr. Cornett said. "There will be a lot of new changes for orthopaedics at Bellevue in the future."
Department expands its reach in the community
