A “Happy Coincidence” Creates Foundation for 50-year Coastal Orthopedic Community Legacy
Dr. James Rogers, an original founder of what is now known as Coastal Orthopedics, calls the beginning of the now well-known health care firm, a “happy coincidence”.
Celebrating 50 years of innovative health care this month, Coastal Orthopedics is looking back on a long legacy of community care and engagement as it looks forward to a thriving future full of even more advancements and growth.
The initial three doctor partnership formed in the early 1970s by Dr. Rogers, Dr. Lassen, and Dr Townsend. At the time, it was simply named Townsend, Lassen and Rogers, PC — TL and R for short. When Dr. Dunlap joined the practice later, they changed the name to Bradenton Orthopedic Associates.
“Before coming to Bradenton, neither of us had any personal connections with the town or each other,” said Dr. Rogers. “Aside from the obvious fact that orthopedics was the common denominator, each of us had very different personal and educational backgrounds. Horace Townsend was originally from Oklahoma, trained in the military and was in Vietnam before coming here. Keith Lassen grew up in Arizona and went to school in California, Texas and Iowa before coming to Bradenton after being in the Air Force in Pensacola. My schooling was mostly in the south, and since my father was an Army doctor, I was from everywhere and nowhere, but I claim Georgia since I was born in Atlanta.”
Dr. Rogers says the fact that their backgrounds and education were so different turned out to be an unrecognized benefit since the association clearly stood the test of time.
“One very important element to our partnership was that I trusted my partners to care for my patients in my absence the same way that I would have, and I am sure they felt the same about me,” said Dr. Rogers. “Also, I can safely say that we developed a good reputation in our community for taking good care of our patients, so we enjoyed their trust as well. I think I can speak for Dr. Townsend and Dr. Lassen in saying that we picked the right specialty for a lot of reasons. One of which is that we truly enjoyed engaging with our patients and their families through the years. In this regard I think the proof was in the pudding since most of the patients that came to our practice were referred by other patients.”
As doctors continued to join the team, the organization’s name underwent several changes before becoming Coastal Orthopedics in 2004. Throughout all the changes, Coastal Orthopedics’ mission to improve the quality of life for its patients and their families remained a common theme.
Musculoskeletal Ambulatory Surgery Center staff members
Since its founding, the practice has also experienced exponential growth. Last year, the Coastal Orthopedics team celebrated the opening of two new facilities in West Bradenton and East Manatee in order to better serve its orthopedic and pain management patients in the rapidly growing Manatee and Sarasota counties, and now currently has three locations and one ambulatory surgery center for servicing Florida’s West Coast.
With a primary goal of providing the highest quality of orthopedic care to the community, Coastal Orthopedics strives to offer the most cutting-edge technology available to its patients. In October 2021, Coastal Orthopedics became the first practice in the region to offer Stryker’s Mako Robotic-Arm assisted total and partial knee replacement procedures at an outpatient surgery center, and recently celebrated the completion of its 500th robotic knee replacement procedure.
“Now that I am getting older, I am on the other side of this health care business since I have been treated by Coastal Orthopedics doctors for knee, shoulder and hand problems, so I can confirm from a very personal viewpoint that I was treated very competently as you would expect in this day and age, but also with respect and concern,” said Dr. Rogers. “I am proud to have been associated with Coastal from the very beginning, and I am very happy to see their continued growth and success as they expand from that little, small town “bone and joint” practice to what it is today.”
Today, the practice employs just over 300, many who have been with the company for over 20 years. Coastal Orthopedics is home to 20 orthopedic surgeons and pain management physicians who maintain hospital affiliations with HCA Florida Blake Hospital, HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center and Manatee Memorial Hospital.
“One of the things I like about working at Coastal is that our physicians are excellent,” said Patsy Patterson, a registered technologist who has been with the practice for more than 25 years. “I see patients come in injured and in terrible pain. They come back for x-rays after surgery or treatment and they are so much better. Sometimes the difference is so great, you would think it was a miracle.”
Physical Therapy Department – SR 64 East Office
“It is truly an honor to be with a company with such tremendous dedication to its foundational legacy, innovative care for its patients and to this wonderful community that has supported our growth for five decades,” said Paige LeMay, Chief Executive Officer of Coastal Orthopedics. “We are thrilled to be a leading provider of comprehensive orthopedic care on the Suncoast, and we cannot thank our dedicated team of employees, physicians and this community enough for their continued support. Here’s to the next 50 years!”
To commemorate the 50-year anniversary, Coastal Orthopedics treated its entire staff and their families to a day at ZooTampa at Lowry Park. Additional celebration activities are planned throughout the rest of the month, including breakfast served by the management team.
“I have witnessed so much kindness in my 25 years with Coastal,” said Patsy. “The medical assistants are so kind and helpful to us in x-ray. I have seen the physicians go to great lengths to help Coastal employees in need. Physician assistants, cast techs, as well as physical therapists, have willingly and graciously helped us lift patients when needed. I have even witnessed patients who don’t know each other showing great kindness and compassion to each other and I continue to be inspired by our front desk staff who work so hard and are always cheerful. 42 years into this career, I still learn something new most days. Working at Coastal has been a blessing for me.”
