Dr. Steven Hollis, President of Coastal Orthopedic Associates and Chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Beverly Hospital was featured this month in the Beverly Hospital Clinical Spotlight
Orthopedics Chief Oversees Robust Program
Steven Hollis, MD, chief of orthopedic surgery at
Beverly Hospital, knows what it’s like to have joint
replacement surgery — he’s had two hip replacements. “The results of joint replacement surgery today are significantly better than two decades ago,” he said. Materials used in artificial hip and knee joints have improved, along with the design of the implants.
“Twenty years ago, when we did hip replacements on 45-year-olds, by the time they were 60, it was common for the joints to have worn out and need replacement,” he said. “Today, out of every 100 hip replacements that we do, I would assume that every single patient would be doing fine 15 years later — that’s a big change.”
The improvement in joint replacement results come at a time when Beverly Hospital is doing more of these procedures than ever. The number of these surgeries rose 47 percent from 2013 to 2017 — to 1,031 procedures.
The numbers are expected to grow even more now that Beverly Hospital has become a clinical affiliate of New England Baptist Hospital. “Our two hospitals will be collaborating on clinical protocols and sharing data, which will benefit patients’ quality of care,” Dr. Hollis said. “What we’ve found so far is that the way we do joint replacements is already very similar. It’s a good
fit. So much of what we are doing at Beverly Hospital is comparable to what’s happening in big successful high-volume programs around the country.”