Kimberly Rodriguez

From the moment I walked into Dr. Westrich's office I felt welcome. He did this by welcoming me with a big genuine smile and allowing me to voice my concerns. I was a young 26 yr old that was moderately active with an ACL tear and damage to my meniscus. We started off by collaboratively discussing my options for surgery and he welcomed my suggestion to use my own graft from my patella tendon instead of using a graft from a donor. He explain to me in detail how the procedure would go and what was to be expected and my full recovery process. The staff at HSS was more than I could have ever expected as far as it comes to service. The office manager, Denise Palacios, was always on standby replying to my emails and answering any questions that I had with booking appointments. She also provided me with referrals to physical therapy, doctor's notes that I needed for work, set me up with follow-up appointment and also helped get me refills for my prescription. She is also why my surgery was approved by my insurance company. She completed all of the paperwork and made sure that it was processed in a timely manner. Without her I probably wouldn't have gotten my surgery if it was left up to my insurance company. If you're an athlete or you're thinking about getting back into living a active lifestyle and you have an injury that you want to fix then having surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery is the place to go. I never thought a year ago that I would be able to walk up stairs without feeling pain or even ride my bike again or hear my doctor tell me i can start jogging again but now I'm able to do that and I have to thank Dr. Westrich and Denise Palacios at HSS for making that possible for me.