Todd Newhouse
Todd Newhouse has to think a minute when asked about his experience at Orthopedics Northwest. There have been so many.
"Dr. (Todd) Orvald did my back surgery 18 years ago," he begins. "It's funny, because he also did my grandma's knee surgery. Oh yeah! In 2007 I got a super-bad infection in my hand and it was going up my arm — the antibiotics weren't working. I was going to Sunnyside at the time and I asked to go up to Yakima — to ONW. Dr. Hwang heard about my case, and he called me and said, "You've got to get up here now! He said I was a few hours from losing my hand. They said I'd be lucky to get back 75 percent use of my hand, but with physical therapy I got it all back."
And, we're off. The active members of the Newhouse family of Sunnyside are repeat customers at Orthopedics Northwest, and for recovery and care at Yakima Valley Memorial hospital. It is no easy feat for Todd Newhouse, a tree fruit and grape farmer, to recall his family's rich history of care at ONW. That's probably because he has four generations of Newhouses to consider — from his youngest, Chase, age 9, to his grandma, who's 92.
"My younger daughter, Chase, was born with a trigger thumb . . . annnnnd something else in there needed fixed. Dr. (John) Hwang fixed that when she was a baby. Then she broke her elbow real bad when she was 3. She broke collar bone, and he fixed that, too. He did my brother's shoulder surgery, and my dad's, too."
We haven't even talked about Brielle yet. She's Todd's oldest. Brielle is very athletic. Very. Basketball, swimming, track, volleyball. And athletes get injured.
"Dr. (Richard) Roux did a knee surgery on her. Dr. Hwang treated her for a shoulder injury. Her finger was a big one — that was a four-year deal starting in eighth grade. She just had surgery on it this spring after the sports seasons were over."
Brielle now attends Washington State University, on an academic scholarship. "I asked her if she was going to do something there and she said, 'Naw, I'm done with sports, Dad." But Brielle does want to get into a good nursing program, and while in high school she shadowed Dr. Hwang at work a couple of times.
So, really, the folks at Orthopedics Northwest have become like family to the Newhouse clan. "Yeah, it's true. We don't think about going anywhere else. If you can't get in, if it's bad or uncomfortable, you can always get in to the after-hours clinic. We've used that a couple of times.
"I've dealt with at least four doctors there over the years, and I've always been happy with any of them. Dr. Hwang, though, he's definitely our go-to guy. I refer everyone I can to him. We're right here between Yakima and the Tri-Cities, and I'm always trying to get everyone to make the shorter drive to Yakima to get better care."
One almost hesitates to ask, but how's it going for Newhouse family lately?
"Everybody's good," Todd reports. "But I've got three boys in football right now: 8th grade, 10th grade and 12th grade."