Bonnie Rosman-Hackner is a certified dog lover. She loves all pooches but none more than her 2-year-old cockapoo named Maggie. In fact, she was on a joyful walk with her constant companion last September when the 75-year-old took a nasty fall in her Riverwoods neighborhood. 

A Doggone Accident 
The former medical office manager feared she did some damage. “I literally tripped over my own feet!” Rosman-Hackner recalled, laughing. “Maggie just stood there looking at me, and I was determined to believe that it wasn’t going to be a serious injury.”

Rosman-Hackner initially held off seeking medical attention and stayed home that night, but the pain never subsided. When her husband brought her to NorthShore Highland Park Hospital the next morning, the verdict was a fractured left hip.

With the diagnosis confirmed, Rosman-Hackner was quickly transferred to NorthShore Orthopaedic & Spine Institute at Skokie Hospital—the only destination hospital of its kind in Illinois. She was immediately seen by Trauma Surgeon Rajeev Garapati, MD, and early the next morning she was undergoing surgery to repair the damage.

Orthopaedic and Spine Care Redefined 
“My whole experience from Highland Park to Skokie was seamless,” noted Rosman-Hackner. “As a longtime healthcare professional, it’s impressive to see how NorthShore brought all of its orthopaedic and spine experts under one roof to care for patients like me.”

To stabilize her fracture, Dr. Garapati used a new type of plate and screw device called a Femoral Neck System. The name refers to the “neck,” or the top of the femur, more commonly referred to as the thigh bone. This new implant has been in use for about six months, and Dr. Garapati believes it will become the new norm for treating these injuries.

“It increases the stability of the fracture and is done through a smaller incision,” explained Dr. Garapati, who holds an academic title at the Pritzker School of Medicine. Better yet, he said, “it allowed Bonnie’s hip to be immediately weight-bearing so she could start physical therapy sooner, and help her return to her preinjury level of activity.”

New Leash on Life
Returning to activity sooner was music to Rosman-Hackner’s ears. She works out regularly at the gym and enjoys several long walks a day with Maggie. The innovative treatment plan also meant that Rosman-Hackner avoided recovery time at a rehabilitation facility and went directly home where she received therapy. “I was very fortunate to have Dr. Garapati and his team—including the front desk staff, the nurses and the X-ray techs. Everyone was gentle, caring and professional.”

The most inconvenient part of her recovery, she said, was temporarily having a hospital bed in her living room, much to Maggie’s consternation. “That bed in the living room threw Maggie for a loop because she knew that it wasn’t the right place for her to snuggle.”