Patients in the Kawartha Lakes will have better access to health care in the area of orthopedic surgery as a result of a new addition at Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) in Lindsay.
RMH announced on Wednesday (January 15) it is expanding its team of orthopedic surgeons by welcoming Dr. Xin (Bill) Yu Mei to its roster.
Dr. Mei received his medical training at Queen’s University in Kingston in 2018 and completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Toronto. He practised at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School where he completed an orthopedic trauma fellowship. He also completed a lower extremity arthroplasty fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Dr. Mei’s practice will focus on primary and revision hip and knee arthroplasty, as well as orthopedic trauma and post-traumatic reconstruction, a media release noted.
With the addition of Dr. Mei, RMH now has four full-time orthopedic surgeons on board. The other surgeons are Dr. Farid Guirguis, Dr. Sebastian Heaven, and Dr. Catherine Conlin.
“We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Mei is joining our surgical team at Ross Memorial Hospital,” said Kelly Isfan, president and CEO, in a statement. “With his expertise in orthopedic surgery and a commitment to patient-centred care, we are confident that Dr. Mei will greatly enhance the exceptional care provided to our community.”
RMH declined to provide further comment about the current need for orthopedic surgeries and the projected impact of having an additional full-time orthopedic surgeon at the hospital.
For his part, Dr. Mei said he feels “privileged and excited to join the team at Ross Memorial in order to serve the tight-knit, welcoming Kawartha Lakes community.”
“I look forward to using my skillset to help patients with musculoskeletal ailments return to healthy, active lifestyles,” he added.
More than 5,000 surgeries take place annually at RMH, including orthopedic surgeries. The surgical team provides a range of procedures, as well as pre- and post-operative support.
RMH’s orthopedic surgeons perform hip replacements, knee replacements, knee arthroscopy, ankle and foot surgery, shoulder surgery, and fracture surgery.
To access orthopedic surgery consultation at RMH, patients need to be referred by their primary care provider, or by a physician or nurse practitioner via a walk-in or virtual care clinic, to the hospital’s Rapid Access Clinic.
At the clinic, a registered physiotherapist with advanced training in orthopedic care will complete a consultation, including a comprehensive musculoskeletal assessment reviewing a patient’s past medical history, history of symptoms, functional assessment, clinical examination, and diagnostic imaging. Patients who are surgical candidates will be referred for a consult with an orthopaedic surgeon.
Dr. Mei’s office will be accepting referrals beginning January 20.
