Here is what makes WROSC structurally different from every corporate chain in the market:

Dr. Smit will talk to you personally before your surgery. Not an assistant. Not a coordinator. He will. Because you need to know the surgeon who is operating on your joint before you are on the table.

Dr. Smit performs every procedure himself. At corporate chains, surgeons are assigned. At WROSC, you choose your surgeon, and he shows up.

Minimal-to-no narcotics protocol. Most surgeons do not spend much thought or effort on post-operative management. Typically, a small amount of local anaesthetic is injected at the end of the case, as a token to the idea of multi-modal pain management. Patients are sent home with oxycodone or similar.

Dr. Smit’s program is built on typically using no narcotics at all. No narcotics during the case. No exposure from anaesthesia. None after. Because he understands what opioids have done to families across the nation.

During surgery, time is spent on administering local anaesthetic at strategic locations, as well as nerve blocks within the operative field. This leads to recovery from surgery often with no pain at all. This is not a marketing claim. This is Dr. Smit’s universal clinical standard, in hospital or outside of hospital. At times, for some patients, medications such as Tylenol #3 or Tramacet are added postoperatively if absolutely needed. This happens only very rarely.

Dr. Smit presented on this topic at the Canadian Arthroplasty Society as early as 2019. Some patients are fearful of the pain that may occur after surgery. Many patients have told Dr. Smit that the pain they were afraid of never came about.

Post-operative nursing support, valued between CAD $3,000 and $4,500, included in your cost. An open-ended care component based on individual patient needs. This is the number one complaint in every negative review of private surgery in Canada: “I paid $32,000 and they told me to go to a walk-in clinic.”

At White Rock Orthopaedic Surgery Centre, a dedicated nurse follows your recovery. He or she visits you at your place of stay. Answers your questions directly. Monitors your progress.

You are not left alone. Neither is your spouse or companion. There is always a direct connection to the nurse and the surgeon. That is the true meaning of care. It goes to the heart.

Once your surgery is done and you have sufficiently recovered in the post-anaesthesia care unit, you will be discharged. This is a big event. It looms large in many patients’ anticipation. The nursing literature is clear: discharge after surgery is a stressful event.

We have the experience to make it a smooth one. Our nurse goes with you to your place of stay. Settles you in. Organises the medications. Sets up the icing machine. Checks that sleeping arrangements are satisfactory and the bathroom routine is established. Once all is in order, he or she will leave you to rest. You will have the phone number of both the nurse and the surgeon.

In our many years of experience, it has never been necessary to return to the place of stay the same evening. There may be some texting or telephone communication back and forth. The nurse comes back the next morning to organise the day, stays in touch during the day, and returns again if needed. Otherwise, back the next day. Usually, after 3 days, the patient indicates that no further home visits are required. At times, there is a visit a few days later to look at the dressing or similar.

In our philosophy, this arrangement must be open-ended. The patient must be free to call and reach out. This is the time when a patient is most vulnerable, and support is most needed. Therefore, whatever nursing care is required is included in the package pricing. It has been our experience that patients have been very respectful of these arrangements, and this concept has worked out very well over the years.

Same-day discharge program. You go in in the morning. You are home the same evening. With nursing and physician support as outlined above. A nurse is always available to respond immediately. The surgeon is available without delay as needed.

No walk-in. No emergency department. We take pride in providing tight, responsive post-operative care. Our same-day-discharge program has been running since 2016, with a track record few or no other Canadian orthopaedic surgeons can match.