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He has cared for athletes in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and PGA.
Lehigh Valley, Pa. (April 18, 2023) – (Lehigh Valley, Pa., April 17, 2023) – Thomas Graham, MD, has been named the first Physician in Chief of Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, one of the five health institutes of Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN). Dr. Graham is a world-renowned orthopedic hand surgeon, health care executive, author, inventor and entrepreneur who is regarded as an international thought leader in medical innovation. He has served as the hand surgery consultant, team physician or medical director for the PGA Tour and numerous professional teams in the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA. He has cared for more than 2,000 professional athletes.
“With Dr. Graham on our team, Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute will be the premier destination for care of professional athletes’ hands and wrists,” said Michael Rossi, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, LVHN. “For the people of our community, Dr. Graham’s arrival means we have a new physician at LVHN with the expertise and experience to take orthopedic care to new heights.”
“I know what it takes to be a championship organization,” said Dr. Graham. “LVHN and Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute have the culture to care with compassion, the sophistication to elevate outcomes, and the commitment to provide the experience patients deserve. That’s the formula for delivering destination-level care.”
As Physician in Chief, Dr. Graham will lead the development of new programs, services and technology within the Orthopedic Institute while continuing to provide patient care. Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute comprises more than 200 providers at 100 practice and rehabilitation locations. Orthopedic Institute surgeons perform more than 17,000 procedures annually, three times as many joint replacements and twice as many sports medicine procedures than others in the regions LVHN serves.
About Thomas Graham, MD
A master surgeon, Dr. Graham has extensive clinical expertise in surgery of the hand, wrist and elbow, with special concentration on complicated reconstruction after trauma, complex elbow disorders and congenital hand surgery.
Dr. Graham has more than three decades of experience as a physician executive at some of the nation’s largest health care systems. He was a member of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone Health, the nation’s largest collection of academic orthopedists, where he served as the Director of Innovation and Strategy. He also was Associate Dean for Enterprise Innovation and co-directed NYU Langone Sports Health. Dr. Graham served as Cleveland Clinic’s first Chief Innovation Officer, as well as Vice Chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.
In Baltimore, Dr. Graham served as Chief of the Congressionally designated National Hand Center, the largest specialty practice of its kind in the world, and held academic appointments at Johns Hopkins. He also was Vice Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at Union Memorial Hospital and Director of MedStar Sports Health, the sports medicine division of the mid-Atlantic’s largest health care system. In 2006, he founded the Arnold Palmer Sports Health Center with his longtime friend and patient. The center serves athletes of all age and talent levels, including providing care to the professional sports teams of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
A prolific inventor, Dr. Graham has more than 60 patents worldwide, including commonly used joint replacements and fracture-treatment implants for the upper extremity. His journey as an inventor is chronicled in his best-selling book “Innovation the Cleveland Clinic Way.”
After earning his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Williams College, Dr. Graham received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Michigan and a fellowship in hand and upper extremity surgery at the Indiana Hand Center, with additional training in elbow surgery at Mayo Clinic. He also completed a two-year Executive Management Program in healthcare administration, jointly sponsored by Cleveland Clinic and the Weatherhead School of Business – Case Western Reserve University.
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) includes 13 hospital campuses, four in Allentown, two in Bethlehem, one in Easton, one in East Stroudsburg, one in Hazleton, two in Pottsville, one in Dickson City, and one in Lehighton, Pa.; 28 health centers; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices; 20 ExpressCARE locations including the area’s only Children’s ExpressCARE; pharmacy, imaging, home health, rehabilitation and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred. Specialty care includes: trauma care for adults and children; burn care at the Regional Burn Center; kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal/neonatal, cardiac, cancer, orthopedics, neurology, complex neurosurgery capabilities including national certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center; and robotic surgery in 10 specialties. Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, Lehigh Valley Institute for Surgical Excellence, Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute and Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute physicians provide the most advanced treatments. Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute is a member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance (MSK Cancer Alliance), an initiative that helps community providers improve the quality of cancer care and offers access to MSK clinical trials. Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, the third largest children’s hospital in Pennsylvania, provides care in more than 30 specialties and general pediatrics. Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest is ranked as the region’s No. 1 hospital for nine straight years and has been recognized among Pennsylvania’s top 10 hospitals for nine consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Cedar Crest, LVH–17th Street and LVH–Muhlenberg are the Lehigh Valley’s only Magnet® hospitals for nursing excellence. Additional information is available by visiting LVHN.org or following us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Information provided to TVL by:
Jamie L. Stover
Media Relations Specialist
Marketing & Public Affairs
Lehigh Valley Health Network
Allentown, PA 18105
