Newton C. McCollough III

Newton C. McCollough III, MD 1934-2024The world has lost a giant in orthopaedics. Newt McCollough passed away on April 20, 2024, at the age of 89. Those who knew him well knew that he was a gentle giant. Throughout his exemplary career, he was always focused on others instead of on himself. Everything he did professionally was with the goal of improving patient care. As far as his own practice was concerned, he loved the opportunity to interact not only with the child who had an orthopaedic issue but also with the family. He understood the anxiety that parents have when their child has a problem, especially if the child will require surgery to help resolve it. It was always part of his approach to do whatever he could to reduce that anxiety, which included educating them on the particular condition and then carefully explaining what he was going to do, why he was going to do it, and what to expect. As a leader, Newt was also always focused on others. He felt that he had a responsibility to help those under him to achieve their very best. His well-recognized skill as a very effective leader led to him being elected as President of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) in 1984 and as President of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in 1989. He was honored with the Distinguished Achievement Award from POSNA in 1999 and inducted into the POSNA Hall of Fame in 2019. The inspiration for his career in orthopaedics originated while Newt was a high school student. For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to be a doctor. This was undoubtedly due to the influence of his father, who was a general practitioner. His father's practice included a lot of orthopaedic cases, particularly related to the management of fractures. Newt later recalled helping his father to pin hip fractures. In the community where his father practiced, there was no portable x-ray machine for the operating room, so the surgery had to be performed on the imaging table in the radiology department. Newt was given the role of being under the drapes, rotating the leg or applying traction as needed. A future orthopaedic surgeon was created! Newt served as a Lieutenant Commander in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He was the Commanding Officer of D Company, 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. It had a very profound impact on him. Newt was a strong believer that an orthopaedic surgeon should also be an orthopaedic physician. He felt that the heavy focus on surgery and on the technical aspects of orthopaedics had resulted in the patient care base being neglected. While he was Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Miami, he invited many general orthopaedic surgeons in the community, in addition to the subspecialty faculty, to be involved in the education of their residents and fellows. He believed that orthopaedic surgeons should be involved, to some degree, in the primary care and nonoperative components of their orthopaedic practice. This included being actively involved in the rehabilitative care of the patients on whom they had operated. Such were some of the topics of a beautifully written address, entitled "Of Geese and Golden Eggs," that Newt gave to the members of the AAOS Class of 1999, which was published in JBJS in March 1999. In 1985, Newt decided to leave his position at the University of Miami and to accept the role of Director of Medical Affairs for Shriners Hospitals for Children at the headquarters in Tampa, Florida, a position in which he was responsible for 22 hospitals. He served in that capacity for 15 years, retiring at the end of 2000. During that time, he missed his first love, which was the privilege of working directly with children and families and making a difference in their futures, as well as missed being able to teach and mentor residents and fellows directly and to do clinical research. However, he realized that he had a new opportunity to work on enhancing the entire system of 22 hospitals in order to improve the care provided to thousands of children. At the time, the care of the patients at the hospitals was mostly provided by several highly respected pediatric orthopaedic surgeons on a part-time basis. There were only 2 full-time pediatric orthopaedic surgeons on the staff. He recognized that the type of patients coming to the hospitals for care was changing. The acuity and complexity of the patients' conditions were increasing exponentially, and it was obvious that, to provide the required care, Shriners Hospitals needed to transition to a full-time care model. Newt therefore began the process of recruiting outstanding full-time clinicians and surgeons. When he retired at the end of 2000, over 90 full-time clinicians and surgeons had been hired, including 60 surgeons and approximately 30 clinicians, such as pediatricians and anesthesiologists. The resources at the hospitals were substantially upgraded so that the management of the more complex conditions could be handled in-house and not transferred to affiliate hospitals. He also worked to improve the comprehensiveness of the care provided. For example, children with spina bifida were provided the full spectrum of care for their various needs at the hospital rather than being referred to specialists outside of the hospital. He also led the improvement of transitional care so that patients who were still in need of care when they became young adults could be transferred to appropriate adult-care resources after leaving Shriners Hospitals. There is so much more that could be said. Newt was truly a giant in orthopaedics, and his influence in improving the care of children and in teaching and mentoring pediatric orthopaedic surgeons will be felt for decades to come. He will be missed but certainly not forgotten! He leaves behind Mary, his loving wife of 56 years; Peter, LeeAnne, Christian, and Ashlee Re' McCollough of San Marcos, California; and Matt, Amy, Camryn, and Chloe Busch of Clearwater, Florida. P.F.A.