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Methodist Dallas Medical Center
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❁
Spring 2015
Hip-replacement
patients (from
left) Mayor Mike
Rawlings and Paul
Divis, along with
double knee–replacement
patient John Crawford,
congratulate their orthopedic
surgeon, Phil Berry, MD, on a great putt
at the Southwest Transplant Foundation’s annual
Golf Classic.
A NEW APPROACH FOR NEW HIPS
If the anterior approach sounds like the answer to your hip pain
find an orthopedic surgeon at Methodist Dallas who’s participating
in our Methodist – Mayo Clinic collaboration to help
Just call
214-947-6296
Since
his days back at West Point,
Paul Divis, now 55, has been an active
person. For example, his most recent
fitness regimen is an intense combination
of squats, pushups, pullups, burpees,
and weights.
Back in 2013, however, Paul’s hip had
completely worn out from years of wear
and tear.
“I was attending a Chief Executive
Roundtable retreat in La Jolla, and I was
limping on the golf course pretty badly,”
he says. “At dinner, John Ford, on the
Methodist Health System Foundation
board of trustees, said: ‘Man, you don’t look
very good, and you’re a lot younger than
I am. I think you need a hip replacement,
and you need to see Phil Berry.”
After meeting with Dr. Berry, Paul and
his wife were immediately impressed.
“Dr. Berry is a better person than
he is a doctor, and he is one of the best
— Continued from page 7
‘The best hospital’ is Methodist Dallas
doctors you will ever meet,” says Paul,
who scheduled his hip replacement for
Nov. 15, 2013.
Valuable lessons from
the Joint Academy
Two weeks before the surgery, Paul
attended Methodist Dallas’ Joint Academy,
which prepares joint replacement patients
for their upcoming procedures.
“I thought this was going to be a
horrible waste of time, but it turned out
to be a really good experience,” Paul says.
“You learn about the hospital, get all of
your paperwork and billing organized,
do preliminary blood tests, and have
classes on what to expect before surgery,
the day of surgery, right after surgery,
during your hospital stay, and once you
return home.
“The information was invaluable, and
the class totally exceeded my expectations.”
Paul was also impressed by the Methodist
Dallas culture he encountered throughout
his hospital stay.
“The entire staff — doctors, nurses,
food services, cleaning personnel — was
efficient and hardworking, but more
importantly, they all seemed happy to be
there, and that made the whole experience
so much better,” he says.
When Paul returned home, he was
surprised at the level of independence he
had as well as his quick recovery.
“Three weeks to the day after my
surgery, I was walking the golf course
and carrying my own bag,” he says.
“You can’t do that with a regular hip
replacement surgery.”
Spreading the word
This past summer, Paul was at a party
with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and
learned that the mayor was in need of a hip
replacement. He was considering specialists
at other facilities, none of whom did the
anterior approach.
“I told Mike he would be doing himself a
disservice if he didn’t go see Dr. Berry about
the anterior approach,” Paul says. “I even
called Steve and told him to call the mayor.”
Mike followed Paul and Steve’s
recommendation and had his right
hip replaced at Methodist Dallas on
Aug. 14, 2014.
“What Steve and I have been trying to
tell people is that the best hospital isn’t on
this side of the river, it’s across the river at
Methodist Dallas,” Paul says. “You get the
best treatment, the best experience. We
wanted to tell the story that your hospital
is phenomenal.”