Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedics is in a unique position to grow its workforce in 2026. The practice plans to add 41 surgeons between May 2025 and December 2026, and getting ahead of potential hurdles is an important driver behind the strategy, Alex Vaccaro, MD, PhD, said.
Dr. Vaccaro, president of Rothman Orthopaedics, shared what’s behind this surge and his plan for the greater Philadelphia and greater Orlando areas.
Question: Can you dive into the patient demand and any other market data that helped yourself and Rothman’s leaders decide this was the right time to bring on 41 physicians by the end of this year?
Dr. Alex Vaccaro: There are three drivers. The first is natural course of managing a practice. We try to stay ahead of planned retirements and we have a cohort of doctors who will be retiring at some point in the near future. Second, our competition has left supply gaps in certain parts of the market that we want to fill. Finally, we are in the process of entering a couple of new sub-markets and we needed to add new subspecialties and expand capacity at certain existing offices where demand for our services was outpacing our capacity.
Q: What makes the Greater Philadelphia area and Greater Orlando area such high priority areas to focus recruitment? How else do you plan to grow these regions?
AV: We believe our top group priority is to maximize our impact in our current markets before moving into new ones. There are opportunities to grow in both the greater Philadelphia and Orlando markets on our own and in support of our health system partners’ growth strategies. Florida also has a growing patient population.
Q: Florida in particular has been an orthopedic hot spot in recent years. What are your goals for growing in this area beyond physician headcount alone?
AV: In central Florida, we have a close strategic partnership with Advent Health. We will collaborate with Advent in Orlando to add physicians, locations and ancillary services and will evaluate whether there are other Florida markets where we can replicate our success in Orlando.
Q: What’s Rothman’s strategy for recruiting so many high quality physicians and then keeping them, especially in such highly competitive areas?
AV: Our focus on teaching puts Rothman at a competitive advantage in comparison to a lot of other groups. We produce a lot of residents and fellows annually. We are better when we can successfully recruit our own trainees that are comfortable in our culture, with our business model and with the way we deliver patient care.
Q: Are there any other clinical or technological investments you’re looking into to stay ahead? How will new physician hires factor into innovation-related decisions?
AV: Innovation in all aspects of musculoskeletal care is one of the Rothman core values. We want to be the best educators, lead the way in clinical research, provide our providers with best in class business support and eliminate friction in our patients’ experience. Rothman is investing in all of these areas. Hiring physicians that are intellectually curious and driven to lead the industry is key to us achieving our goals.
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