Ernest L. Sink, M.D. Joins HSS

Ernest L. Sink, M.D., former director of the Hip Preservation Program Children’s Hospital in Denver, is joining Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) as co-director of the Center for Hip Pain and Preservation. Dr. Sink, who is widely known for his work in treating complex hip conditions in infants through teens and young adults, will also be a member of the HSS Pediatric Orthopedics Service.

“Ernest Sink is an outstanding surgeon and teacher, ” said Bryan T. Kelly, M.D., in the news release. Dr. Kelly, co-director of the Center for Hip Pain and Preservation, added, “His strong background in the area of adolescent hip diagnostics and surgical treatment will greatly enhance the work of the Center.”

In his new position, Dr. Sink will treat adolescents and young adults at the Center for Hip Pain and Preservation, along with children as part of the Pediatric Service, creating a model transitional program for hip care. Since hip disease starts in childhood and often continues into young adulthood, teens will experience no interruption of care as they mature.

Dr. Sink earned a doctor of medicine degree in 1994 at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, and also completed a residency in orthopedic surgery there. He then completed a fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego in 2000 and joined the University of Colorado Health Science Center as assistant professor. In 2004, he participated in an AO fellowship/apprenticeship in hip surgery at the University of Berne in Switzerland, studying innovative surgical techniques with Professor Reinhold Ganz, M.D., in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

Dr. Sink told OTW,

There was a large demand awaiting my start date so the first steps were to start seeing patients and concurrently setting up a team and system for seamless coordination of care from the assessment, surgical pre-op, peri-op and post-operative time intervals. I’m also developing a working relationship with Dr. Bryan Kelly and the other members of the Center for Hip Pain and Preservation so we can evaluate the patients and recommend treatment tailored for each individual’s hip. For example, since I have a different skill set than Dr. Kelly we can offer a greater range of treatment than each of us can perform alone. Instead of performing the procedure that we are best at performing, we can recommend the procedure that we believe will be best for the individual. Therefore, setting up an efficient system to evaluate patients and get them into the correct treatment pathway has been what we have worked on in the few weeks I have been at HSS.