Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI)

UCLA Health and the Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI) have signed a strategic alliance that brings together two mission-driven organizations with longstanding commitments to excellence in orthopaedic care to benefit patients in our community. Under the alliance, patients in the San Fernando, Conejo and Santa Clarita Valleys, as well as Bakersfield, an increasingly important service area for UCLA Health, will now enjoy expanded options to access high-quality orthopaedic care where they live or work. SCOI is a highly regarded medical group of 40 surgeons whose expertise covers a broad range of orthopaedic specialties. Headquartered in Van Nuys, the group also has locations in Valencia, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Porter Ranch and Bakersfield. SCOI operates outpatient surgery centers in four of the locations and those centers are a key part of this partnership with UCLA Health.


Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is the site of a free standing residency program in which UCLA rotates a PGY5 to serve as the Chief on one of the trauma services at Harbor Hospital.  This hospital provides experience in acute and pediatric trauma.  In return, the Harbor program rotates one resident to UCLA for experience on sports/oncology/spine.  Doctor Louis Kwong is the new Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.  The residents attend a trauma and general conference weekly at that institution.  In addition to their affiliation, all of the members of the faculty at Harbor-UCLA have their academic appointments or joint appointments through the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA. 

For further information regarding the Medical Center go to www.harbor-ucla.org/


Orthopaedic Institute for Children

UCLA and the Orthopaedic Institute for Children (formerly Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital and Orthopaedic Hospital) agreed to form a Strategic Alliance under which the OIC program is integrated into the UCLA program.  A common facility at Santa Monica Hospital, owned by UCLA, was constructed and officially opened on January 8, 2012.  Beginning in July 1998, two UCLA residents  (PGY4 and PGY2) began rotating to OIC for a two month rotation under the supervision of Dr. Blair Filler.  Since that time, the expansion has been tremendous through the Alliance affiliation.  At the Orthopaedic Institute for Children, residents participate in clinics and gain valuable experience in the treatment of pediatric orthopaedic trauma. The program at OIC accepts all pediatric orthopaedic trauma regardless of ability to pay and this provides extensive outpatient and inpatient clinical experience.  In addition, the President and CEO of OIC, Anthony Scaduto, M.D., is also appointed as the Executive Vice Chair of the UCLA / OIC - Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.


West L.A. V.A. Medical Center 

The West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center provides clinical experience in adult reconstructive surgery, spine, sports, hand surgery, trauma, and general orthopaedics.  There are three orthopaedic residents assigned to the West L.A. Veterans Administration in addition to an orthopaedic resident on the hand service whose time is split between UCLA and the West L.A. Medical Center .   It is the intention of the VA Administration to have outpatient treatment and inpatient treatment provided at the West L.A. VA Medical Center.  The West L.A. VA Medical Center is supervised by both UCLA full time and clinical faculty including Nelson SooHoo, MD (Chief of Orthopaedic Service), Steven Zeitzew, MD and hand fellows (hand), Bert Thomas, MD (joint replacement), Eric Johnson, MD (trauma), Sharon Hame, MD and David McAllister, MD (sports). Conferences are held on each Wednesday to discuss clinical problems for the residents and the entire faculty.


Olive View Medical Center  

Hand Surgery Rotation

This is a new county hospital serving the population of the San Fernando Valley .  A large volume of hand injuries are seen through the emergency room and a wide spectrum of hand problems such as post-traumatic hand reconstruction, arthritis and congenital anomalies are evaluated in the outpatient hand clinic.  Prior to 1993, hand surgery patients at Olive View were managed by a single plastic surgery resident but since 1993, the Hand Surgery Service at Olive View has been expanded by Dr. Jones and the hand fellows.  The fellows have assumed a major responsibility to supervise the junior plastic surgery resident in the treatment of patients with traumatic hand injuries.  In addition, they are responsible with Dr. Jones and Dr. Benhaim for the joint supervision of the junior plastic surgery resident and a rotating orthopaedic surgery resident in the very busy hand clinic held on alternate weeks and for the operating sessions for hand surgery held on the other alternate weeks.  The hand fellow supervises and teaches the plastic surgery resident and the rotating orthopaedic resident together with Dr. Jones and Dr. Benhaim in the hand clinic.  The hand fellow is also appointed as a junior attending surgeon at Olive View Medical Center and assumes primary responsibility for the surgical care of patients with traumatic hand injuries requiring emergency surgery.  The fellow supervises and teaches the junior plastic surgery resident in these emergency surgeries.  This is a very important component of the UCLA Hand Surgery fellowship program since it allows the fellows to verify the maturation of their own intellectual and technical skills, while at the same time providing service to the patients and education to the residents.  However, the fellows can discuss any case by telephone with Dr. Jones or Dr. Benhaim to outline the injury and discuss their proposed surgical treatment.  The fellows also take 35mm photographic slides of all emergency surgeries that they perform at Olive View County Medical Center and then present these cases at one of the monthly hand surgery conferences, both to document patient outcome but also to receive advice or criticism from the other attending hand surgeons.