Orthopedic team now includes foot and ankle specialist
PRESQUE ISLE — The first full-time surgical podiatrist to ever practice north of Bangor has joined TAMC’s orthopedic team. Dr. Jared Kohlbacher began practicing with the most comprehensive team of orthopedic providers in The County in July.
Photo courtesy of TAMC
DR. JARED KOHLBACHER, a new surgical podiatrist at TAMC, exams the foot of patient Richard Kneeland of Presque Isle during a recent office visit.
Kohlbacher treats a variety of conditions including diagnosis of general medical foot and ankle problems, as well as surgical management of foot diseases, deformities and/or trauma, and those structures which affect the foot and ankle. He has a special interest in all aspects of tarsal and metatarsal diagnosis; plantar fasciitis; bunions and hammer toes; diabetic foot and wound care; ankle/foot trauma/fractures; and Achilles tendon ruptures.
He joins the team of board-certified orthopedic surgeons Dr. Russell Donnelly, Dr. Merrill Hersey and Dr. William Rice, along with physiatrist Dr. Anna Nikachina, who specializes in treatment of musculoskeletal and neurologic conditions. Together, their experience brings services not elsewhere offered in Aroostook County, including total joint revision surgery for knees and hips, as well as less invasive arthroscopic shoulder surgery and spine surgery, and now surgical podiatry.
“I have been studying the foot and ankle for the past seven years and completed a residency program that was dedicated to the foot and ankle,” said Kohlbacher. “My strengths and experience will complement the great work already being done here in orthopedics at TAMC.”
Kohlbacher said coming to TAMC was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“My wife and I both grew up in rural Oklahoma, and we wanted to raise our children in a rural area so they could enjoy the sense of community that we had growing up,” he said. That is already happening since his three girls, ages 13, 12 and 9, have gotten involved in Presque Isle’s recreation program this summer and have had the chance to experience activities such as tennis, archery and kayaking. The three will attend school in Presque Isle this fall.
Not only are his children connecting with the community, but Kohlbacher is finding his place within his new practice.
“The nurses and medical assistants here in the office are fantastic to work with, and my colleagues at TAMC have been very welcoming and easy to talk to,” he said. “I look forward to meeting more patients and coworkers in the coming weeks and months.”
He will see those patients both at the Presque Isle office, located at TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital on Academy Street, as well as during regular clinics at TAMC’s Caribou Health Center on Bennett Drive.
Kohlbacher earned his doctorate of podiatric medicine from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed training in a podiatric surgical residency at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J.
