Thankful Patient’s Experience has Her Coming Back for More

At just 67 years old, Christy Russell knew she still wanted to take advantage of every possible opportunity to play with her grandchildren.

The osteoarthritis in her knees, however, had other plans.

“It was so painful and I was having trouble walking very far,” she said. “It just seemed like it came on pretty fast for me. When I tried to get up, it would take me a while to get going and I was having a lot of pain at night. I knew if I left my knees the way they were, since I chase my grandkids around and everything, I was going to be able to do less and less.”

Christy looked close to home for her answer, having heard good things about Adena’s orthopedic program and knowing Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute on the Adena Regional Medical Center campus was located in a new building that had just opened in September of 2021. She was evaluated and, roughly three months ago, she underwent a right knee replacement surgery with Dr. Mark Lesh.

“I had heard Dr. Lesh was really good – and I’m sure any of them are wonderful – but he was awesome,” she said. “It’s an absolutely amazing facility. I just could go on and on, but everything worked like clockwork.”

The combination of Dr. Lesh, AOSI staff across the entire spectrum of care she interacted with and the quality of the facilities not only led Christy to count her patient experience as a success, but it helped her make the decision to get her left knee replaced as well later this month.

One of the key factors in development of the five-story, 111,000-square foot AOSI was to make it a home to Adena’s nationally accredited orthopedics program and specialized care for orthopedics, spine, sports medicine, neurology, podiatry and interventional pain management. Those specialties would come together under the same roof with associated testing services to create a unique combination of patient convenience and provider collaboration.

For Christy, that collaboration made her experience more positive.

“I haven’t had any complaints at all,” she said. “It takes a lot of preparation to get ready for something like a knee surgery, so being able to do the MRI right there and having everything in one facility was so handy.”

She also appreciated the honesty shown by her care team about what to expect from the surgery and dealing with any pain afterward, was impressed with the comfort of the inpatient room in which she stayed for a night following the procedure and praised the care and professionalism of the nurses who were with her throughout the evening.

As she prepares to return for the procedure on her other knee, she said she encourages her friends looking for orthopedic care to consider AOSI rather than leaving the area to have procedures done.

“I can’t say enough nice things about the whole experience, from first seeing Dr. Lesh to the pre-op, the whole surgery and all of the follow up,” she noted. “Everything here was just so convenient, and I would highly recommend it.”

To learn more about services available at AOSI or to arrange for an appointment, visit Adena.org/AOSI  or call 740-779-4598.