Northwest Orthopaedic Specialists PS, of Spokane, says it has formed what it calls the Spokane Hand Center to help it market the services it offers to patients who suffer ailments and injuries to the hands, wrists, and elbows.

The center offers its services in each of Northwest Orthopaedic's three offices here. Four surgeons and 12 other employees are part of the center, says Dr. Anthony Sestero, one of the surgeons.

Sestero says the center will treat such conditions as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, arthritis, fractures, and any other ailment of the hands, wrists, and elbows. He says the practice formed the center because it wanted the competencies of its four hand surgeons to be better known in the market.

"There is a gap in education," Sestero says. "Patients are not getting referred immediately, as there's not enough awareness about the availability" of the practice's hand surgeons.

"It's been an underserved subspecialty for a long time in this area," he adds.

Sestero says it's important for patients and providers to locate and select a specialist soon after an ailment is discovered. "For a lot of the injuries that people have that we'll be seeing, if someone is not seen within a week or 10 days it will really limit the options for treatment."

Patients mostly will be referred to the center by primary-care providers, urgent care clinics, emergency rooms, and other specialists.

"As a business, it will increase our volume," he says. "It will ease the efficiency of getting referrals."

The hand center locations are at the three Northwest Orthopaedic offices: downtown at 601 W. Fifth, where the hand center occupies about 4,500 square feet of the office's 40,000 square feet of floor space; on the North Side at 212 E. Central, where the center occupies about 3,000 square feet; and in Spokane Valley at 12410 E. Sinto, where it occupies about 1,500 square feet, says Leanne Mason, the practice's chief operating officer.

About 80 percent to 85 percent of the surgeries the hand center will perform will take place at Northwest Orthopaedic's surgery center at its downtown location, with the remainder done in Spokane area hospitals, Sestero says.

The center's four surgeons all are fellowship trained, with a year of additional training after residency. The surgeons include Sestero, who works out of both the downtown and Valley offices; Dr. Paul Horn, who is based at the North Side office; and Drs. Martin Janout and Henry Lin, who are at the downtown location.

Sestero says the center initially will serve roughly 340 patients a week, which will be about 80 percent of its capacity.

"We are fairly busy right now, but we have the capacity to see that other 20 percent to fulfill the demand that's in the community," he says.

The center's hand surgery specialists treat patients of all ages and are available for consultation at any Northwest Orthopaedic location and at all of the Spokane area's hospitals, he says.

Mason says Northwest Orthopaedic has 24 physicians who work in subspecialty areas of orthopedics, including sports medicine, arthroscopic surgery, trauma and fracture care, foot and ankle care, pain management, and hand and spine surgery. It offers injury prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services for all types of musculoskeletal conditions. In addition to its doctors, it has a total of 147 employees, including eight physician's assistants and four registered nurses, Mason says.