PMH opens orthopedic/sports medicine clinic

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PRINCETON — Weekend athletes who get hurt or area residents with ailing hips and knees now can see a doctor locally to treat those injuries.

Perry Memorial Hospital in Princeton recently opened Perry Memorial Orthopedic and Sports Medicine. Dr. Sekhar Sompalli will provide orthopedic services to patients from the Illinois Valley and surrounding areas in his office located in Suite 306 in the Medical Office Building at PMH.

Rex Conger, PMH’s chief executive officer, said Sompalli being at PMH on a full-time basis will improve access to orthopedic care for patients who need these services in the hospital’s service area.

“The timeliness and comprehensive nature of follow-up and follow-through will be much better,” added Conger. “We felt the demand was here to offer full-time services in the area of sports medicine and to prevent long-term damage from injuries to children.”

The clinic will offer rehab services not available previously in the area, said Conger.

“This will be better for patients and mean these services will be provided locally, meaning they won’t have to drive somewhere else,” he said.

Sompalli will offer such services ranging from casting broken bones and removing wires and screws that were put in a person’s body during a surgery at the clinic.

He can also fit braces in the office for such injuries like tennis elbow or those needing shoulder immobilizes.

Sompalli will offer a comprehensive nature of orthopedic services and will also have a nurse practitioner in his office, which will be open Monday through Friday.

Access to orthopedic services is key in reducing the amount of time it takes to recover and heal, indicated Conger.

In addition to sports injuries, Sompalli will also do knee and hip replacement surgeries, which are now much safer and a lot less painful for patients. These surgeries are less invasive than were in the past.

Sompalli’s presence at PMH will mean those people with trauma won’t have to be taken by a helicopter or by an ambulance to another hospital to be treated for their injuries, Conger said.

Sompalli received his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Loyola University Medical Center. He holds licenses in Illinois and California.

His office will be located in Suite 306 in the Medical Office Building at PMH. To schedule an appointment, call (815) 876-3033.