Hippocrates said, “Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.” This sentiment perfectly describes Dr. Chad Bender, with his love of the art of medicine and for those he serves at Washington Orthopaedic Center.
Dr. Bender has treated veterans, soldiers and their families from Korea to California, and Washington D.C. to Germany. During his military career, Dr. Bender also treated both Afghan civilians and soldiers injured in the war during two deployments to Afghanistan. He continues to serve our country and remains eligible for other deployments as an orthopedic surgeon in the United States Army Reserves.
In the Army during one of the busiest times of the war, Dr. Bender was Chief of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. People would travel up to five hours just for routine visits as this hospital is the sole option for U.S. service members in the area.
Also, as the hub for evacuating injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, Landstuhl was where soldiers went before making their way back to the United States. There were times Dr. Bender had as many as 20 patients with blast injuries to care for, before transitioning them to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
In Honduras on a humanitarian mission, Dr. Bender helped a young boy who lost his thumb in a machete accident. He used creative solutions to help the child regain his gripping ability by rotating one of his fingers to the thumb position, giving him full use of his hand.
Coming from Madigan Army Hospital to Washington Orthopaedic Center, Dr. Bender wanted to serve a small community. He and his wife, a military psychiatrist, chose Lewis County for its rural, open feel, as an ideal place to raise their young daughter.
“I look forward to being here a long time and being a part of the community, learning more about it, being involved in it and doing my part,” says Dr. Bender.
Dr. Bender grew up in Arkansas in a rural area working on his father’s commercial chicken farm. As a young student, he enjoyed science classes the most and helping others. His biology teacher encouraged him to follow his interests in science, leading him to the medicine after considering becoming an accountant briefly.
It was in medical school that Dr. Bender discovered a passion for orthopedics with the detail work and finesse required with hand surgery. “I enjoy the constructive thinking you have to do to put people back together,” he says.
He completed an orthopedic residency at Tripler Army Medical Center and hand surgery fellowship at the renowned Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after completing his medical degree from the University of Arkansas. At Walter Reed, he cared for all types of patients, including those injured in the war, as well as families, retirees, and those with routine sports injuries. With his distinctive training, he is the first fellowship-trained hand surgeon at Washington Orthopaedic Center.
Dr. Bender finds the most rewarding surgeries are those to help patients with arthritis to hold things again, or releasing nerves and repairing tendons from carpal tunnel syndrome or after a laceration – what he calls lifestyle-improving surgeries. “I like to give people function back that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” says Dr. Bender. “Anytime someone lacerates their hand, repairing that allows them to do their daily activities again.”
With Dr. Bender’s skills, now clients of Washington Orthopaedic Center can receive tendon and nerve repair, hand joint replacements, and arthroscopic and minimally invasive surgeries. Dr. Bender treats a full spectrum of complex conditions and injuries, as well as ailments affecting the hand, wrist, forearm, and elbows, which have a direct impact on lifestyle and function.
As a Board-Certified Orthopedist with American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery with Subspecialty Certification in Surgery of the Hand, Dr. Bender can treat many ailments and injuries of the hand. “I am already seeing a wide variety of patients here,” says Dr. Bender.
We are clearly in good hands with Dr. Bender offering arthroscopic and minimally invasive surgery, fracture and trauma surgery, hand joint replacements, and tendon and nerve repair. He is a fantastic addition to the medical community and to Washington Orthopaedic Center.
Washington Orthopaedic Center
1900 Cooks Hill Rd.
Centralia
150 Dennis St. S.W.
Tumwater
1-800-342-0205
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