SPECIAL SECTION ORTHOPEDICS & SPORTS MEDICINE
One Step at a Time
Kentucky Orthopedic Associates grows to provide general orthopedics and spine surgery to Central Kentucky communities BY ROBERT BAKER KY Michael R. Heilig, MD, was familiar with orthopedic techniques as early as 1969, the year of his birth, when he began treatment for his own clubbed feet. At that time, the orthopedic management of his condition meant surgeries, casting, and bracing. Many individuals pursue medicine because of a personal medical problem or a condition severely affecting a loved one. The majority of these people have changed their minds before the end of medical school. Not Heilig. His personal interest in club foot persisted, and rotations in medical school further convinced him to pursue an orthopedic career. Now, after 14 years in a very busy practice in general orthopedic surgery and the formation of Kentucky Orthopedic Associates in Winchester, Ky., he is quite happy with his early decisions. Heilig grew up in Lexington and attended Brigham Young University for his BS degree. He took his medical degree from U of L’s School of Medicine, followed by an orthopedic surgery residency at Tulane University in New Orleans. After residency, Winchester was a good fit for Heilig because extended family members were close by and he had the desire to fill a service void in Eastern Kentucky. Furthermore, his friend through medical school and residency, G. Jeffrey Popham, MD, already had a private practice established in Winchester. Popham encouraged Heilig to join him. However, soon after beginning this partnership, Popham moved to Louisville to be closer to his family. So, four months out of residency, Heilig found himself in solo practice, which he considered “somewhat daunting but it turned out to be a blessing because I was able to deliver all aspects of orthopedic care myself and became very comfortable doing so.” Although he had no concrete business plan for expansion and the creation of a group practice, after four years, Heilig took on his first partner, Gregory F. Grau, MD. Grau, a graduate of UK College of Medicine, has been associated with Kentucky Orthopedic Associates for 10 years now. WINCHESTER,
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PHOTOS BY GIL DUNN
About a year ago, the practice added James W. Rice, MD, a 2006 U of L School of Medicine graduate, who had been practicing spine surgery in Ashland, Ky. Rice’s addition filled a service need for spine surgery in the area. Nine months ago, at the end of 2015, David Waespe, MD, UK College of Medicine, joined the group after a fellowship in joint replacement surgery. These four surgeons now make up Kentucky Orthopedic Associates in Winchester, with satellite offices in Georgetown, Richmond, Paris, Morehead, and Irvine. In addition to the medical staff, the practice employs five physician assistants – Jason Delong, PA-C, Brandon Embry, PA-C, and Kurt Schlenther, PA-C, who will be joined by Sarah Ervin, PA-C, and Michael Bradley, PA-C – plus physiotherapists, and has its own open MRI facilities at the Winchester and Richmond offices. “To expand further we’d have to add additional providers,” says Heilig. “We stay very busy now with patients who
Dr. Michael Heilig is the founder and senior partner of Kentucky Orthopedic Associates in Winchester, Ky., with satellite offices in Georgetown, Richmond, Paris, Morehead, and Irvine.
come to us from outlying areas. Eastern Kentucky patients come to Winchester and Southeastern Kentucky comes to our Richmond clinic.” Although Heilig continues to practice general orthopedic surgery, he has a special interest in abnormalities of the shoulder, including shoulder arthroscopy and shoulder replacement. “Diagnostics and pathology of shoulder repair is much improved over the last ten years.” An additional area of interest for Heilig is repair of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee. For this process, Heilig prefers the Arthrex© All Inside ACL Technique, an all internal procedure through four small incisional ports and no large incision. An allograft is placed with anchors to the tibia and femur that are drilled with a special pin drill developed by Arthrex. In addition to