Richard Rothman, MD, PhD, a surgeon who pioneered hip replacement surgery and founder of the Rothman Orthopedic Institute, died Oct. 21 at age 81, according to The Inquirer.
Dr. Rothman was born December 2, 1936, and received his medical degree from Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania. In 1969, he traveled to England to learn hip replacement surgery from John Charnley, MD, the procedure's inventor. At the time, patients with bad hips did not have many options, "only bad choices," Dr. Rothman said, according to The Inquirer.
Dr. Rothman was a few years into his practice when he replaced the hip of Walter Annenberg, publisher and philanthropist. After Dr. Rothman told Mr. Annenberg about his desire to open a "center of excellence in hip surgery," the philanthropist donated millions of dollars to Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Hospital, which created the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute
Now, the Rothman Institute sees about 755,000 patients a year, has an annual revenue of half a billion dollars and ranks second among orthopedic groups in research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The institute is also affiliated with eight health systems, including Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health System.
During his career, Dr. Rothman performed more than 50,000 hip and knee replacements. Prior to his retirement in May, Dr. Rothman preformed two hip replacement surgeries a week. After his retirement, he stayed with the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute as a partner and traveled to New York once a week to advise for the private equity firm Riverside Co. He also served as the vice chair of the board for Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University and taught medical students at Jiao Tong University in Shanghai.
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