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The Scottish Rite Convalescent Hospital for Crippled Children opened in Decatur, Georgia in 1915 to help young Georgians crippled by polio. It was the first hospital in the United States devoted to the orthopaedic care of children and served as a model for later Shriner’s Hospitals for Crippled Children. By 1919, the hospital had been renamed the Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children and had received national attention under the guidance of its first Medical Director, Michael Hoke, M.D. In 1926, the reputation of Dr. Hoke and the hospital led the then-Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to persuade Dr. Hoke to direct the National Polio Foundation located in Warm Springs, Georgia.
The next Medical Director, Hiram Kite, M.D. kept the Scottish Rite Hospital in a leadership role in pediatric orthopaedics achieving international recognition for his treatment of patients with clubfoot deformities.
Wood Lovell, M.D. followed Drs. Hoke and Kite becoming the third Medical Director of the Scottish Rite Hospital in 1965. Dr. Lovell’s leadership in the emerging specialty of pediatric orthopaedics led him to become a founding member of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America and instituted the first post-graduate fellowship training program in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at the Scottish Rite Hospital. Under his direction, the hospital, which had mainly been an orthopaedic institution, evolved into a full service children’s facility with primary care pediatrics and all medical and surgical sub-specialties represented. In addition, several specialty clinics were instituted to allow specialists from multiple medical disciplines to confront complex pediatric disorders in a coordinated manner.
After Dr. Lovell’s retirement in 1982, Dr. Raymond Morrissy became the fourth Medical Director at Scottish Rite Hospital. The four full-time pediatric orthopaedic surgeons practicing at Scottish Rite formed Children’s Orthopaedics of Atlanta in 1982. Children's Orthopaedics of Atlanta has continued to provide pediatric orthopaedic care for patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite since that time.
Children’s Orthopaedics of Atlanta has grown in concert with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite employing six pediatric orthopaedic surgeons practicing in the Meridian Mark office on the Scottish Rite campus and six satellite offices. Children's Orthopaedics of Atlanta also employs 2 primary care sports medicine physicians, 6 physician assitants and one athletic trainer.
Children's Orthopaedics of Atlanta has a commitment to providing training and education through its residency and fellowship program. Children's Orthopaedics of Atlanta also hosts an annual pediatric orthopaedic conference in Atlanta. Children's Orthopaedics of Atlanta has a history of research and innovation and makes annual contributions in pediatric orthopaedics through textbooks, presentations, and medical journal articles.
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