Texas Tech Physicians offer specialized orthopedic health care; one of only 198 in nation
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - The Level I trauma center at the University Medical Center of El Paso is one of only 198 in the United States.
Orthopedic traumatologists with Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso are the only ones trained within a 250-mile radius.
Adam Adler, M.S., FAAOS, is an associate professor with the Foster School of Medicine's department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation.
Adler and his team see tens of thousands of patients including Big Bend and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
"We do people who have been involved in car accidents, fall off the roof putting up christmas lights, or trimming trees, who are hit by cars,
who fall off their roller skates," said Dr. Adler.
Broken bones are his specialty. The amount of trauma he has seen is also helping to provide new insight into what some consider routine orthopedic cases.
El Paso's proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border means specialists will see various difficult and unique cases in a three-state region such as high impact injuries after people fall from the border wall. A situation unique to the border.
"Texas Tech and University Medical Center are unique in a sense that, the only place that has orthopedic traumatologists here, and there's no one else as qualified to take care of these injuries involving the pelvis, involving some of the hip joints, some of the more complex impacts from some more high energy injuries, there's just no one more qualified than us," Adler added.
In 2022 the orthopedic specialists provided care for more than 20,000 patients and performed in excess of 2, 500 procedures.
Texas Tech Physicians' residency program in conjunction with William Beaumont Army Medical Center is the only civilian-military training program in the country.
"We can take care of the full gamut, whether it's a sports injury, you tear your ACL, or your kid falls off the playground and breaks their arm, or you're in the unfortunate situation where you get into a car crash, we're ready to put you back together," said Adler.
Dr. Adler says his next goal is recruitment of specialists as he see the cases grow to help train the next generation of physicians addressing the critical shortage and growing demand.
