Pictured: left to right: Debra Gregrich, MA; Heather Gillen, Doctors Assistant; Ashley Fowler, PA-C, Rob Nixon, PA-C and Dr. Alan Valadie at Coastal Orthopedics.

Coastal Orthopedics, a full-service provider of comprehensive orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, spine care, pain management, diagnostic imaging and physical therapy service, is celebrating its 50-year anniversary of orthopedic care in southwest Florida this month. After a career in the army, Dr. Horace Townsend came to Bradenton in 1972 to open his own practice, Horace D. Townsend, M.D., P.A., marking the origination of the health care organization. Originally born in Oklahoma, Dr. Townsend trained at Brooke Army Medical Center, located on joint base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. From 1972 to 1982, the practice grew, and three additional doctors joined him: Dr. Jim Rogers, Dr. Keith Lassen and Dr. Gary Dunlap. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Pictured: left to right: Debra Gregrich, MA; Heather Gillen, Doctors Assistant; Ashley Fowler, PA-C, Rob Nixon, PA-C and Dr. Alan Valadie at Coastal Orthopedics.