Bell Sports Medicine Finds a New Home in Hacienda

By Jay Hipps, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Orthopedics Specialist Joins Growing Medical Presence in Park

Bell Sports Medicine, a medical practice founded by Dr. David Bell, M.D. in 2006, recently moved into new facilities in the Hacienda Medical Center at the corner of Stoneridge Drive and Willow Road. Bell, an orthopedic surgeon with almost 19 years of experience, serves patients ranging from professional athletes to weekend warriors on the mend.

Dr. Bell is pleased with the new location, which houses a variety of other medical practices and provides easy access to the nearby Hacienda Surgery Center. "The Hacienda Medical Center is a good medical building," he says. "There are a bunch of medical offices - there's Norcal Imaging, for example, which has X-rays and MRI - and then for me to be across the street from my surgery center makes it easier for coordinating. I can literally park at my office and walk across the street to start surgery."

More often than not, that surgery involves athletes. "I work doing mostly arthroscopic surgery and minimally-invasive surgery, on all different kinds of sports and musculo-skeletal injuries," he says. "Sports medicine is a specialty in orthopedics where we do a lot of field coverage. We cover games, so we know all the injuries of athletes and we also have surgical practices, mostly arthroscopic and minimally-invasive surgery. Primarily, that's in the knee and shoulder, a lot of the elbow and ankle."

While a majority of the surgical techniques were developed in an athletic context, the same methods are used on people of every age, from all walks of life. "We do a lot of high end athletes and now are caring for a lot of high school and college athletes, as well as some pros, but the same principles apply for everyone, for all ages from middle age up and even the retired crowd."

Office injuries are treated as well. Dr. Bell provides a variety of procedures which can be used to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive stress injury which affects many computer users.

It was his own sports injury that put Dr. Bell on his career path. "I was a distance runner when I was in high school and had an injury when I was running my junior track season," he says. "I saw my local orthopedic surgeon where I grew up, San Jose, and got interested in medicine. I entered Stanford as a pre-med (student) and later attended Baylor College of Medicine."

Bell Sports Medicine also employs a full-time physical therapist, Mark Snyder, PT. "He has worked with me for 10 years now," says Dr. Bell. "He's an experienced physical therapist and our patients benefit from having him right in our office because we can collaborate so easily."

During the course of his career, Dr. Bell has served as the team physician for the San Jose Stealth Lacrosse Team, Cal-State East Bay Pioneers, Ohlone College Renegades, and Valley Christian High School Vikings teams.

Bell Sports Medicine is located in the Hacienda Medical Center at 5924 Stoneridge Drive, Suite 202. They can be reached by phone at (925) 600-7020. For additional information, access their web site at www.bellsportmed.com.

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