Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing

Photographer / Sam Zachrich

Orthopedics is a branch of medicine that focuses on the care of the musculoskeletal system, which is made up of bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, and spine. Ortholndy, the largest orthopedic practice in the state of Indiana with twelve locations, employs more than 150 healthcare providers, including 51 orthopedic surgeons covering the entire spectrum of specialties and eight physiatrists for non-operative care.

Several years ago, Ortholndy opened a small office on State Road 32, just west of U.S. Highway 31, with the intent to offer a facility for urgent care and physical therapy for those in the Hamilton County area. Orthopedic urgent care is a unique niche that Ortholndy has developed throughout the past few years because it's not really an emergency room. They treat orthopedic bone and joint injuries that don t require an emergency operation.

Though the location was small, it quickly became quite popular, both with patients and the physicians who served them. Over time, however, the patient load grew so much that they simply didn’t have room to do what they needed to.

This growth is not surprising, given that Westfield has been named the fastest-growing community in the state.

“The last statistic I saw said it was something like 7% annual growth,” says Dr. Ed Hellman, president of OrthoIndy. “That’s enormous. You see that growth when you drive around the area and notice the number of apartment complexes and other developments going up. A lot of people are moving into the community, and we want to be able to serve those people close to home." Therefore, the Ortholndy team found a new location a bit farther west on State Road 32, between Dartown Road and Austrian Pine Way, by the post office. There is a traffic light at Dartown Road and State Road 32, allowing for excellent access.

This new, 15,140-square-foot Westfield location, whose official grand opening was on October 4, is built differently than past offices because these days, post-pandemic, space is used differently. Now, there is very little administrative space because its simply not needed. Instead, plenty of clinical space for patient care and physical therapy was built, since many procedures can now be done at outpatient facilities. The facility also has MRI and other maying equipment.

In addition, this facility, which allows four physicians to work at the same time, has a much larger physical-therapy space featuring large windows that allow abundant natural light to flow in, providing a bright area for patients to exercise. This location includes 12 exam rooms, five physical -therapy exam rooms, one casting room with two beds, one X-ray room, one MRI room, and more. The physicians specialize in all aspects of orthopedic care.

"There is no other place that's similar to Ortholndy because we control everything that we do, from seeing patients to imaging, from therapy to surgery, in our own facilities and with our own physicians,” Hellman says.

They also have their own anesthesia group, their own nonsurgical spine group that can do interventional pain management, and their own internal medicine group that sees patients before surgery to optimize their medical status, and help care for them when they are in the hospital for surgical procedures.

"All of this really sets us apart from every other group, all of which are dependent on either hospital systems or others for at least some of these services,” Hellman says.

Dr. John Dietz, a spine surgeon at OrthoIndy, is thrilled about the opening of the new facility in Westfield.

"It has been a long-held dream of mine to practice where I live,” Dietz says. While practicing in the urgent-care facility these past few years, he’s seen a broad section of orthopedic injuries because he was supervising urgent care, as well as seeing spine patients.
Dietz is pleased that Westfield’s health care culture is so patient-centered. "The health care community here has always been focused on doing the right thing at the right time, for the right reason,” Dietz says. "It makes me proud that Ortholndy would devote so much thought and so many resources into opening an office here in Westfield."

He doesn't view Ortholndy as being a competitor in the area, but rather a complementary resource service to the existing health care system in Westfield.

Of course, OrthoIndy is much more than just a professional service organization. In 2005, they opened their first orthopedic specialty hospital on the northwest side of town at 86th Street and Interstate 465 with full inpatient capability for orthopedic surgical patients. They also now have inpatient and outpatient services in Greenwood and outpatient surgery in Brownsburg, along with imaging capabilities (MRIs) at those locations and their Fishers location. Their urgent care centers stretch from Westfield to Center Grove and enable patient visits for acute injuries or problems without an appointment.

“We’re excited to be in this community and to expand our services in the Westfield location,” Hellman says. "I think it's going to be an extremely successful Facility for us and a wonderful asset to the community."

Ortholndy is located at 288 East 175th Street in Westfield. For more information, call 317-802-2000 or visit orthindy.com.

Article from the Westfield Magazine.