In the past if you experienced a traumatic event and need specialized surgery you may have had to be transported to Tampa or Miami. Lee County now has their very own Traumatologist. Dr. Patrick Leach is the only one in the area dedicated to orthopedic trauma. He fixes most things broken or injured- from a broken arm to a traumatically shattered hip. Dr. Leach says, "For me I think there is a tremendous need and a tremendous opportunity to do what I do. Where I was at previously, if you look at numbers, we had about 1600 trauma admissions a year according to the staff at Lee Memorial."

Dr. Leach has only been here a few weeks but already has big goals. “Some of the big things I hope to bring to the community are doing a lot more with the pelvis fractures and maybe a few complex fractures that have been in need in the area."

Another reason for a Traumatologist in Lee County is to have someone oversee a wide range of critical injuries. “I hope it's a service to the other physicians in the community too that want to focus their practice on joint replacement of sports medicine or anything like that and it would take some of the burden of off them for treating these injuries,” says Dr. Leach. Dr.

Leach also specializes in pelvic fractures and prior to his arrival this care was not available.

Dr. Leach moved to the area from Georgia with his wife and daughter.