After years of medical school and professional training in his native Haiti, Dr. Maxime Coles was ready to strike out for what he perceived were greener pastures in the United States.
“When you come from an underdeveloped country, even though you get good training there, it’s never sufficient to satisfy your ambition,” Coles said. “With the political turmoil there and the condition of life, it makes you choose for a better way of living.”
So in 1979, the former member of Haiti’s national basketball team left his home country for the United States. More than 30 years later, after stops in various states — including a 15-year stay in Richport, Conn., — Coles this week began his most recent adventure as Girard Medical Center’s new orthopedic surgeon. Kenny Boyd, the hospital’s CEO, said Coles is GMC’s first full-time orthopedic surgeon in approximately six years.
Boyd said the process to add full-time orthopedic services to GMC began more than two years ago.
“During the hospital’s strategic planning process about two-and-a-half years ago, the board, working with the medical staff, identified needs,” Boyd said, “and full-time orthopedic services was one of those needs. And during further evaluation of services needed at GMC and for our communities, orthopedics continued to come up.”
Since 2005, Coles had worked at Coffeyville Regional Medical Center in Coffeyville. Boyd said the doctor’s familiarity with southeast Kansas made him a “good fit” for the GMC team. Coles, who specializes in adult and pediatric surgery, hand surgery, traumatology and sports medicine, said he still provides some services to CRMC.
“But I am definitely now a Girard Medical Center man,” he said. “My priority is right here.”
Coles, who began accepting patients on Monday, is certified by the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgery, and is licensed to practice in Kansas, Missouri and Connecticut. He also speaks three foreign languages — Spanish, Creole and French — to help accommodate a wide range of patients.
A ribbon cutting ceremony at the new GMC Orthopedics Center is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Coles’ office, 307 N. Hospital Drive in Girard.
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After years of medical school and professional training in his native Haiti, Dr. Maxime Coles was ready to strike out for what he perceived were greener pastures in the United States.
“When you come from an underdeveloped country, even though you get good training there, it’s never sufficient to satisfy your ambition,” Coles said. “With the political turmoil there and the condition of life, it makes you choose for a better way of living.”
So in 1979, the former member of Haiti’s national basketball team left his home country for the United States. More than 30 years later, after stops in various states — including a 15-year stay in Richport, Conn., — Coles this week began his most recent adventure as Girard Medical Center’s new orthopedic surgeon. Kenny Boyd, the hospital’s CEO, said Coles is GMC’s first full-time orthopedic surgeon in approximately six years.
Boyd said the process to add full-time orthopedic services to GMC began more than two years ago.
“During the hospital’s strategic planning process about two-and-a-half years ago, the board, working with the medical staff, identified needs,” Boyd said, “and full-time orthopedic services was one of those needs. And during further evaluation of services needed at GMC and for our communities, orthopedics continued to come up.”
Since 2005, Coles had worked at Coffeyville Regional Medical Center in Coffeyville. Boyd said the doctor’s familiarity with southeast Kansas made him a “good fit” for the GMC team. Coles, who specializes in adult and pediatric surgery, hand surgery, traumatology and sports medicine, said he still provides some services to CRMC.
“But I am definitely now a Girard Medical Center man,” he said. “My priority is right here.”
Coles, who began accepting patients on Monday, is certified by the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgery, and is licensed to practice in Kansas, Missouri and Connecticut. He also speaks three foreign languages — Spanish, Creole and French — to help accommodate a wide range of patients.
A ribbon cutting ceremony at the new GMC Orthopedics Center is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Coles’ office, 307 N. Hospital Drive in Girard.
