The need for orthopedic services is projected to increase in the coming years, with all baby boomers projected to be age 65 or older by 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

From the head of a new practice to a surgeon performing a landmark augmented reality-assisted knee procedure, here are the latest orthopedists making headlines:

Watertown, N.Y.-based Samaritan Medical Center plans to open an orthopedic specialty practice in 2021, according to a Dec. 22 news release.

Since the beginning of the year, Becker's has reported on one orthopedic practice and two spine hospital closures, with another orthopedic hospital that could soon close to make way for a new facility:

Orthopedic surgeon Frantz Lerebours, MD, joined Miami Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, according to a Dec. 17 news release from Coral Gables-based Baptist Health South Florida.

Hospital for Special Surgery's Jonathan Vigdorchik, MD, was reportedly the first surgeon in the U.S. to complete an augmented reality-assisted knee replacement with the NextAR TKA system.

From an Arizona surgeon retiring after almost two decades in practice to the Ultimate Fighting Championship's new head consulting surgeon, here are the latest orthopedists making the news:

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic led 18 percent of physicians to consider retiring early, temporarily closing their practices or opting out of patient care, according to a survey of 842 physicians conducted by physician search firm Merritt Hawkins and nonprofit The Physicians Foundation.

Orthopedic surgeon Joel Rohrbough, MD, is retiring from Northern Arizona Orthopaedics, the Arizona Daily Sun reported on Dec. 12.

The first COVID-19 vaccination at New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery was administered to Ann Bienstock, an advanced practice nurse, according to HSS President and CEO Lou Shapiro.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship extended its partnership with New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery, according to a Dec. 10 announcement.

North Point Orthopaedics opened a $10 million medical office building in Munster, Ind., according to a Dec. 11 report from the Northwest Indiana Times.

Rocky Mount-based UNC Orthopedics at Nash honored Adolfo Marsigli, MD, and Eduardo Marsigli, MD, according to a Dec. 13 report from The Spring Hope Enterprise.

Pittsburgh-based UPMC acquired a private hospital in Ireland that provides orthopedic surgical services, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Dec. 14.

Toronto, Canada-based health clinic builder Jack Nathan Health has appointed Glenn Copeland, MD, CMO.

Here are four orthopedic surgeons joining practices this week:

From a joint venture orthopedic clinic to an expanded digital offering at a leading New York hospital, here are four key orthopedic partnerships in the past month:

A Kentucky physician has received a five-year prison sentence and must forfeit $12,275 for illegally prescribing opioids at a time when he did not have a legitimate medical practice, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.

From a sports medicine surgeon who invented a mask to protect athletes from COVID-19 to another performing a knee procedure on an NFL player, here are the latest orthopedists making the news:

An inmate at Greenwood (S.C.) County Detention Center escaped from the custody of a prison officer during a Dec. 8 orthopedic visit, only to be found two hours later, the Index-Journal reports.