Playing pool and shooting darts were favorite pastimes for Jeremy Perry, who moved to Fayetteville six years ago from upstate New York for the warmer weather and to reunite with family. He bought a house and was setting down roots when he suffered an injury at work.
"I was hauling fuel in my tractor-trailer, and when I went to pull the hose off, I felt a snap in my arm," says Perry. "I started losing feeling in my fingers and hand, up my right arm." Perry said his fingers and hand began to curl up, which led him to Ben Levine, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in Fayetteville. "I had to stop doing some of the things that I loved to do or try to do them with my left hand. Dr. Levine said that it was my ulnar nerve, and so we started down the road of surgery and therapy," Perry says.
At age 33, Perry had developed ulnar nerve palsy, a condition that can affect the ability to make fine movements or perform routine tasks. He had four surgeries and worked with a therapist multiple times a week to repair the nerve damage in his hand and arm. Now that Perry has regained feeling and function in his hand and arm, he has been able to open his own business in construction land management, working with heavy equipment.
He says being able to see a local physician was "absolutely amazing." "The procedures were here, the appointments were easy to make, and I didn't have to travel," Perry says. "Plus, I can't say enough about Dr. Levine. His bedside manner is amazing. You can tell when he talks to you, he cares about you. He wanted to know more about me, so he knew how to help me. Getting that function back in my hand and arm was life changing."
Underserved specialty
Dr. Levine, a hand, upper extremity and trauma orthopedic surgeon, moved to Fayetteville in 2019.
He and Dr. Stephen Kouba will be the two doctors on the staff of the new Valley Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, part of Cape Fear Valley Health, when it opens this month.
The clinic is at 1219 Walter Reed Road.
Dr. Levine says that orthopedics is an underserved specialty in the Fayetteville area. The goal is to bring in more doctors to serve the community through the hospital-based clinic. "We hope to expand over the next few years. The vision is to attract physicians in all the orthopedic subspecialties including sports; hand and upper extremities; foot and ankle; spine; oncology; and pediatrics," says Dr. Levine.
Dr. Levine is also the new medical director of the Cape Fear Valley orthopedics residency program, which was accredited in 2022 and will welcome its first class starting in July. "We will be attracting new doctors through the program. It will be a draw," Dr. Levine predicts. Cape Fear Valley Health, recognizing the need to address the shortage of orthopedics specialists, opened the Center for Medical Education & Neuroscience Institute in January. That is where Dr. Levine, Dr. Kouba and six other doctors will teach orthopedics residents. Michael Nagowski, CEO of Cape Fear Valley Health, said at the ribbon-cutting on Jan. 13 that the residency programs serve to bring in more doctors and that already 50 percent of their graduates have decided to practice in the community. Dr. Levine is certain that the orthopedics program will succeed.
"Orthopedics is competitive as a residency, so we will be able to attract high-quality surgeons to Cape Fear Valley," he adds.
Army, health system work together
The residency program is a joint effort between Womack Army Medical Center and Cape Fear Valley Health.
"The residency program started with Dr. Ken Nelson at Womack in 2017. He brought me on board and, as I got more involved, I got more excited and wanted to be a part of it," says Dr. Levine. "When he asked if I would lead as an associate director, I jumped at it."
He and Dr. Nelson decided to bring the military and civilian sides together to create a stronger program.
"Where the Army can do an OK residency program and where we at Cape Fear Valley can do an OK residency program, together we can create a superior residency program because of the strength of the programs combined," Dr. Levine reasons.
The program will train four residents over a five-year residency period, two civilian doctors and two Army doctors. "It is a five-year residency program, so we will have 20 residents at the end," Dr. Levine explains. "We want them to stay here and get involved in the community as well. Teaching to give back is also important."
Bringing the physicians to the community will have a major impact over the next five years, but in the meantime, Dr. Levine and other orthopedic surgeons are making a difference.
Jeremy Perry can attest to that.