Cooper, Mercy Berryville bring orthopedic care closer to home

Residents in Berryville and throughout Carroll County now have improved access to orthopedic care, thanks to Dr. Scott Cooper’s decision to begin seeing patients at Mercy hospital in Berryville every Monday.

“I kind of made the decision myself a couple of months ago that I would go to Berryville on Mondays,” Cooper said. “Try to get things started up there.”

Cooper, an orthopedic surgeon with more than 29 years of experience, is offering outpatient clinic visits and performing minor procedures. “What I’ve done so far is I’ve done a few carpal tunnel releases and one ankle fracture,” he said. “We’re a long way from being able to do hip and knee replacements over there but I don’t think that’s off the table for the future.”

He emphasized the importance of having the right equipment on hand to expand services.

“Doing arthroscopic surgery on knees, for example, you have to have the right equipment there,” he said. “As we get going and as it expands, hopefully we can have our own things on hand and be able to take care of more things.”

One of the major benefits, Cooper noted, is convenience for patients who otherwise travel to Rogers for orthopedic care.

“If they live in Eastern Carroll County, it’s a little more than a hop, skip, and a jump over to Rogers,” he said. “Hopefully my presence will enhance the convenience of their coming to see us.”

Cooper believes many patients, especially men, delay care because of inconvenience or resistance to visiting a doctor.

“One thing about men is they’ll do anything they can not to go to the doctor in many cases,” he said. “Motion is life, that’s what I always say, and I think that’s the mantra of orthopedics. Our goal is to keep people moving.”

He encourages patients to seek treatment early.

“Most things we’re able to treat effectively non-surgically,” he said. “If you’ve got something that’s hindering your lifestyle, adversely affecting your quality of life, keeping you from moving the way you need to be to stay healthy — we can usually help with that.”

Common orthopedic issues in aging men include rotator cuff problems and knee arthritis.

“Most of the time it’s not a rotator-cuff tear, it’s a bursitis-tendinitis thing and an injection and therapy can help take care of that,” Cooper said.

When it comes to osteoarthritis, Cooper warns against inactivity. “Weight bearing is actually good for an arthritic joint,” he said. “The temptation is to avoid activity, but that’s the absolute wrong thing to do.”

He also highlighted the metabolic link.

“I like to say sugar is poison,” Cooper said. “There’s definitely an association of knee osteoarthritis with metabolic syndrome, diabetes or pre-diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, vascular disease.”

The return of orthopedic services to Berryville is part of Mercy’s broader goal.

“People want their care closer to home, and that’s what we’re all about at Mercy,” Cooper said.

He added, “It’s my pleasure to come over to Berryville and hope we can be of service. I love the town. I’ve had lots of patients come over from Berryville — it’s just been a good bunch of people.”