By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — An orthopedic-care center, HSS Orthopedics with Stamford Health, opened Monday on Post Road West.

The facility, a collaboration between the Hospital for Special Surgery, a nationally known orthopedics provider, and Stamford Health, an independent healthcare system, offers diagnostic procedures, including x-rays and physical therapy.

The center will add “OrthoNow” in November, which a public relations spokesman describes as “quicker access to orthopedic care for sudden injuries and pain.”

Care will focus on non-surgical procedures as much as possible, according to Dr. Samuel Taylor, the medical director of the Westport center and sports medicine surgeon.

Surgical procedures are performed at the Stamford location of HSS, including joint replacement procedures, he said, but “the vast majority of patients we see, evaluate and treat do not involve surgery,” he said.

“It’s a stressful experience when people are robbed of their ability to move, to do the things they want to do,” he said. “Our staff is focused on making that [treatment] experience a positive one.”

HSS facilities are known worldwide, and their centers in New York and Florida have treated a wide range of patients, including pro golfer Tiger Woods and the Dalai Lama, according to Justin Oppenheimer, HSS executive vice president and chief strategist.

The HSS organization has been named the best specialty hospital in the country by Newsweek magazine for the past five years, he said, and the best in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report. “We’re bringing the best in the world to Westport,” he added.

The HSS collaboration with Stamford Hospital began in 2017, according to Kathleen Silard, president and CEO of Stamford Health. She said the goal of the partnership’s expansion into Westport and other locations in the tri-state area is so that “people will have these extraordinary outcomes without going to New York City … our goal is to get people back to doing the things they love to do.”

Westport officials attending the grand opening and ribbon cutting included First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, Selectwoman Andrea Moore and Matthew Mandell, executive director of the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce.

Tooker said that Westport is a physically active community, and that she “couldn’t be happier” that an HSS/Stamford Health has opened in Westport.

“We pride ourselves on attracting world-class organizations … it enhances our community,” Tooker said.

In addition to Stamford and Westport, other HSS with Stamford Health locations in the state include Wilton and Hamden.

HSS Orthopedics with Stamford Health/Westport outpatient center, 276 Post Road West, is open 8 a.m. 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit the center’s website or call 203-391-2270.

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Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.