Our Someone 2 Know was born and raised in Winnemucca and is now an orthopedic surgeon in Reno.
Dr. Jessell Owens specializes in joint replacement and recently returned from a trip to Panama where she and a team of medical professionals provided free surgeries to help patients walk again.
We caught up with the doctor at Great Basin Orthopedics to watch her in action.
"I'm a joint specialist,” she explains, “So, I do hip and knee replacements, for the majority of my practice - is hip and knee replacements, and that's an extension of sports.”
Sports-related injuries are very common says the doctor. "People who've had this really active lifestyle have earned arthritis."
Owens knows plenty about living an athletic lifestyle. "I started swimming when I was three or four - and kept swimming. We drove almost every weekend to Reno for swim meets."
She kept swimming competitively through college. So, Owens says, she gets where athletes are coming from. "They come into me, they tell me their awesome story, and we can do a joint replacement or manage their arthritis some other way and get them back playing - and that's really cool.”
The doctor recently had an experience with an entirely different kind of patient - in the impoverished country of Panama.
"People in Panama have almost no access to care,” shares the doctor, telling us hospitals mostly deal with critical situations. “So, they can't be doing elective surgery in their operating rooms, unless we bring an entire team.”
Which is exactly what the Denver chapter of Operation Walk did on their last trip to Panama. Dr. Owens was part of a big group of volunteers, "Surgeons, representatives from the implant companies, nursing staff, surgical techs…”
And more.
The team spent three days doing 30 knee replacements - free of charge.
Owens says the experience was powerful.
"I feel incredibly honored that I’m trained in a service that can provide that level of care for people, that can change lives quickly.”
And she wants to have a similar impact in Nevada. After leaving the state for undergrad and medical school, Owens purposely returned to be as close to home as possible. "Winnemucca was a huge part of who I am and how I ended up here and it's incredibly lucky to be back and be able to serve the community I grew up in.”
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Dr. Owens says as much as she would like to practice in Winnemucca, the Reno area has the bigger hospitals and physical therapy services that her patients need.
To learn more about Great Basin Orthopedics, see link –
https://www.greatbasinortho.com/
9480 Double Diamond Parkway
Suite 100
Reno
Phone 775.786.1600
To learn more about Operation Walk Denver #OperationWalkDenver, see link –
