Theodore Miclau, vice chairman of orthopedic surgery at UCSF, addresses staff at the Orthotics and Prosthetic Center's ribbon cutting. Photo by Arla Escontrias
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center last month celebrated the grand opening of the Orthotics and Prosthetics Center, which aims to provide bracing and artificial limb use to patients.
At the Oct. 15 ceremony, Theodore Miclau, MD, vice chairman of orthopaedic surgery at UC San Francisco, explained that the first organized Orthotics and Prosthetics center at ZSFG began in the basement of the hospital 22 years ago, where it remained until this October.
The center has treated several thousand high-risk patients annually in recent years, and supplies more than 4,000 braces to patients each year.
According to a 2013 study, patients who receive amputations require an average of 2.2 procedures and stay in the hospital for more than 30 days. Some of these stays are due to prosthetic wear, while others are because patients lack adequate access to quality care. While these patients may have been treated elsewhere in the past, the new center now offers a state-of-the-art facility for their care.
The new center is funded by two Heroes and Hearts grants from the ZSFG Foundation and a grant from the George H. Sandy Foundation.
For more campus news and resources, visit Pulse of UCSF.
