About Our Services

Diverse Services | Joint Restoration | The Spine Center | Schaffer Extended Care Center

Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester (SSMC) is a voluntary, not-for-profit health care organization located in New Rochelle, New York. With a total certified bed capacity of 321 acute care beds and 150 skilled nursing facility beds, Sound Shore Medical Center is the largest private community-based teaching medical center in Westchester.

Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester offers a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic health care services. Inpatient acute care services include medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics. Specialty services include cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology, endocrinology, gerontology, Orthopaedics, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, physical medicine and rehabilitation and radiology.

The Medical Center's rehabilitation services include physical. occupational and speech therapies plus cardiac rehabilitation. Also available is a wide array of diagnostic services such as diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, audiology, and a complete range of laboratory services. The medical staff totals approximately 600 in 40 different clinical specialties. In the Nursing Department, SSMC has approximately 250 people consisting chiefly of Registered Nurses with Licensed Practical Nurses, Nursing Assistants, and Technicians as support staff. The expertise of the nursing staff is customized to services provided.

Diverse Orthopaedic Services
From sports injuries to scoliosis and deteriorating joints, Sound Shore Medical Center’s Department of Orthopaedics offers patients a full range of treatment options. Some 1,700 orthopaedic cases are handled at SSMC annually. Whether treatment is surgical or non-surgical, the goal is always that of returning patients to their daily activities as soon as possible.

Our orthopaedic surgery teams continue in the forefront of minimally invasive surgical technology and studies. For example, Sound Shore was a pioneer in the use of minimally invasive joint replacement surgery and is one of the few hospitals in Westchester County in which this cutting-edge technology is utilized. These techniques are employed in performing partial or unicompartmental as well as total joint replacement. Our specialists, many of whom have faculty appointments at leading medical schools in the tri-state area, are currently piloting a ground breaking technique for minimally invasive knee replacements.

We are also pioneering nonsurgical treatments for orthopaedic conditions. In fact, Sound Shore is one of the pioneers in employing orthotripsy, a technique that utilizes sound waves for the treatment of heel pain. This newsworthy distinction resulted in a recent medical feature with Dr. Max Gomez on NBC Television.

From the professional to the recreational athlete, Sound Shore’s expertise in sports medicine provides diagnosis and treatment that helps keep them in playing form. As a leading institution in this field, our orthopaedic specialists function as team doctors for the area’s annual PGA Buick Classic and LPGA Sybase Big Apple Classic golf tournaments. These specialists also serve as team doctors for local colleges, high schools, regional tennis tournaments, and the world university games.

The orthopaedic specialists at SSMC are repeatedly included in the list of "Best Doctors" compiled and published by New York and Westchester magazines. TOP

Joint Restoration
Joint restoration, both partial and complete, is another area of excellence at SSMC. The Center for Joint Restoration incorporates a multidisciplinary team of physicians, orthopaedic nurses, physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists, and support staff who provide patients with surgical and nonsurgical treatment options.

At Sound Shore, we are helping to develop the use of ceramic, as well as other bearing materials, for joint replacements. Utilization of these new materials holds great promise for extending the functional life of these devices while providing the added benefit of a greater range of motion than the traditional plastic-on-metal.

Pain management is critical for orthopaedic patients. At Sound Shore, most surgeries are performed using blocks or regional anesthesia, thus minimizing risks for patients and enhancing recuperation. For joint replacement procedures, regional anesthesia is particularly beneficial as it allows the pain reducing effects to remain at the surgical site for several days. TOP

The Spine Center
Patients come to Sound Shore’s Spine Center for all facets of spine care, where the emphasis is on nonsurgical management of their conditions. Physical and occupational therapy, as well as pain management through medication, injection therapies, and alternative therapies such as acupuncture, are all part of the Center’s interdisciplinary approach.

For those patients requiring surgery, our Spine Center specialists perform minimally invasive procedures, as well as complex reconstructive surgery for adults and children. Surgical patients benefit from the expertise of anesthesiologists, specialized nurses, radiologists, neurologists, physiatrists, physical therapists, including full-time orthopaedic coverage during both their hospitalization and postoperative care. TOP

Our specialties include:
Arthroscopic Surgery
Sports Medicine
Knee and Shoulder problems
Hip and Knee replacement
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Trauma
Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery
Foot-Ankle Surgery
Carpal Tunnel Surgery
General Orthopaedics
Spine Surgery
Fracture Treatment and Reconstructive Surgery
Total Joint Replacement
Joint Reconstruction

Helen and Michael Schaffer Extended Care Center
After orthopaedic surgery, most patients recover at home and visit the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department at Sound Shore Medical Center as outpatients for a healing regimen to strengthen muscles and restore flexibility.

When at-home recuperation is not possible, SSMC offers a perfect alternative - our highly-rated, fully-equipped extended care facility connected to the hospital. Sound Shore's Helen and Michael Extended Care Center (SECC) has a 30-year record of providing successful physical rehabilitation. And, our location offers close-to-home comfort that translates into added motivation for patients and convenience for their families, friends, and primary care physicians. Schaffer is approved by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, a distinction reserved for only the best medical providers.

Schaffer is part of SSMC and its Center of Excellence in Orthopaedics, thus allowing us to offer rehabilitation patients a full spectrum of services. Our highly skilled, hospital-based staff of healthcare professionals coordinates a comprehensive treatment program that results in patients returning to their families and resuming their normal activities. Our success is reflected in the number of the short-term rehabilitation patients who return home quickly - over 90%.

In Schaffer's medically supervised, state-of-the-art, short-term rehabilitation program, patients receive rehabilitation therapy 7 days a week. A hallmark of our rehabilitation program is continuity of care from the hospital setting since our on-site physical and occupational therapists treat inpatients, outpatients, and Schaffer patients. TOP

For further information about our services, please contact one of our Orthopaedic specialists listed in the section "About Our Doctors".