$name

Physician Panel

The Good Samaritan Orthopedic Center of Excellence is staffed by a panel of expert physicians who are dedicated to providing the highest quality care to total hip and knee replacement patients. These physicians come from orthopedic surgery groups from around the area and work collaboratively to research and implement best practices—and they are teaching other orthopedic physicians from Cincinnati and around the world how they can achieve similar results.

Our Physician Panel
Mark Snyder MD Medical Director

Mark Snyder MD, Medical Director

Practice: TriHealth Orthopedic & Spine Institute

Dr. Snyder is Medical Director of the Good Samaritan Orthopedic Center of Excellence. In 2010, he developed an initiative entitled “Zero in on Zero” which will radically reduce complications and ensure the highest level of patient satisfaction with their joint reconstructive outcomes. He is a frequent guest professor throughout the world. He often teaches on medical missions, demonstrates advanced joint replacement techniques; and he provides comprehensive programs in total joint patient care all the way from patient selection, to surgical techniques, to preventing complications, and to managing the most difficult patient care challenges. He is a consultant to and product innovator for several prominent medical device companies.

As of 2011, Dr. Snyder completed more than 9,500 primary and revision total knee and hip replacement surgeries. In the Tri-State area, he is the volume leader in knee replacement operations. He helped develop new implant systems and surgical techniques like “Less Invasive Surgery” to ease recovery from joint replacement and likely improve the quality of the outcome. He teaches these methods throughout the country. A hallmark of his clinical priorities is the regular use of “multimodal pain management methods” which greatly reduce the potential for intense pain associated with total joint replacement. In keeping with innovative clinical research, Dr. Snyder is a nationally recognized proponent of total joint registries; and he has employed registry-based clinical tracking to reduce surgical complications and improve the results and durability of total joint replacement. He is integrally involved in the construction of a new total joint registry for the Good Samaritan Hospital that will enhance the surgical care all participating orthopedic surgeons provide to their patients.

Thomas Bender MDThomas Bender MD

Practice: Group Health TriHealth Physician Partners
Office locations: Clifton

Dr. Bender has performed more than 4,000 joint replacements in his 30-plus years of orthopedic medical practice at Group Health and surgical experience and Good Samaritan Hospital. Since earning his medical degree and completing his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, he has continually pursued post-graduate education programs dedicated to joint replacement surgery. This includes completing a fellowship in adult spine surgery at the University of Toronto/Toronto General Hospital.

Dr. Bender is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He served as the chairman of the section of Orthopedics at Good Samaritan Hospital from 1998 to 2004 and currently serves as a specialist consultant to the Ohio State Medical Board. He sees new patients at Group Health’s Clifton office (on the Good Samaritan Hospital campus) on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Robert Burger MD

Robert Burger MD

Practice: Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine 

Dr. Burger is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio where he graduated from LaSalle H.S. and went on to attend Notre Dame University on an academic scholarship. At N.D.U. he played varsity football and was a member of the 1977 National Championship Team. His honors included First Team academic All-American, National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete and the Dolly Cohen awards as the top scholar athlete in the country.

Dr. Burger has a special interest in knee and shoulder injuries and is actively involved in education and clinical research in these areas. He is the Head Team Physician and co-director of Sports Medicine at Xavier University - Cincinnati, Ohio, associate team physician for the Cincinnati Reds MLB team, Orthopaedic Surgeon for the College of Mt. St. Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio, and team physician for LaSalle H.S.

Kevin Reilly MD

Kevin Reilly MD

Practice:TriHealth Orthopedic & Spine Institute

Dr. Kevin Reilly is the seventh of eight sons, born and raised in Cincinnati by Tom and Agnes Reilly. He was an Academic All American in football at The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and returned to Cincinnati from medical school and his orthopaedic training. In 2011, he was named a team physician for the Cincinnati Bengals.  “I always dreamed of making it in the NFL, I just didn’t realize it would take me 25 years and a medical career to get there.”  He serves as the team physician for St. Xavier, where he wrestled and played football in high school. He also serves as an orthopaedic consultant for multiple other area high schools, several colleges and the McGing Irish Dancers. “I’ve enjoyed remaining involved with high school athletics since this was one of my earliest attractions to Orthopaedics as a career. There is a great deal of satisfaction from the one-on-one interaction you have when treating a patient and helping them restore their function and achieve their goals. Whether it’s a 9 year-old soccer player or a 90 year-old walker, a 100-pound dancer or a 300-pound lineman, helping someone do the things they need to do and want to do, by correctly diagnosing and treating them, is the greatest thing about my job.”

In this era of specialization, he is also proud of being a general orthopaedic surgeon. “I have a particular interest in joint replacement surgery, arthroscopy and sports medicine, but I enjoy the variety and challenge of seeing virtually all patients and treating most of them,” says Dr. Reilly, who is married and has six children. “If a problem is extremely rare or complex, we have an extensive team of subspecialists within the Wellington group available as a valuable resource.”

According to Dr. Reilly, up to 90% of an orthopaedic practice involves non-operative care. In most cases, multiple nonsurgical options are explored before resorting to surgery. “Our responsibility is to try to get patients better, and if I can do that without resorting to surgery, that is usually the first choice. When surgery is required, I make use of state of the art techniques and equipment, from less invasive arthroscopic and total joint surgeries to computer assisted and partial joint replacement surgeries.

The local and national climate of healthcare has not dampened his enthusiasm for this chosen profession. “I consider it a significant and humbling honor and privilege to serve patients in need. Despite the stresses and ever increasing challenges of the business of medicine, I continue to find the practice of orthopaedic surgery very fulfilling.”

Christopher Ruhnke MDChristopher Ruhnke MD

Practice:TriHealth Orthopedic & Spine Institute

Dr. Ruhnke returned to Cincinnati in 2007, where he completed his orthopedic residency, after practicing in his home state of New Jersey for ten years. In New Jersey, Dr. Ruhnke had a busy general orthopedic practice in which he specialized in sports medicine and joint replacement surgery. He now brings his expertise and passion for these areas to Wellington.

“Being an athletic trainer prior to medical school led to my interest in treating athletic injuries and returning patients and athletes to their optimum performance levels. I have adopted this philosophy in treating people with arthritis and other orthopedic problems, using new technology to perform less invasive and less painful surgery to allow patients a quicker and more functional recovery.”

John Schwegmann DOJohn Schwegmann DO

Practice: Group Health TriHealth Physician Partners
Office locations: Clifton, Kenwood

Dr. Schwegmann is an orthopedic surgeon with Group Health. He specializes in general orthopedics, with a particular interest in total knee replacement. Dr. Schwegmann earned his Doctor of Osteopathy degree from the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and received his orthopedic surgery training at Ohio University Grandview Hospital and Medical Center in Athens. He is certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Orthopedic Surgery.

Thomas Shockley MDThomas Shockley MD

Practice: TriState Orthopaedic Treatment Center

Dr. Shockley is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, who received his fellowship training at the Atlanta Sports Medicine Center. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a general surgery internship at Meharry Medical College both in Nashville Tennessee.

Dr. Shockley is a member in good standing with several local, state and national medical associations. Dr. Shockley has hosted several radio programs directed at educating the public to a variety of health issues. Dr. Shockley is a member of the Medical Executive Committee at Evendale Medical Center. He served as a councilor on the Academy of Medicine which is instrumental in promoting the best healthcare for the residents of the Greater Cincinnati area. Dr. Shockley is a member of the Quality Improvement Committee for one of the largest insurers in Ohio. Dr. Shockley has served as team physician for Cincinnati State. He is team physician for numerous local high schools. Dr. Shockley is trained in some of the most advanced sports medicine procedures. In addition to sports medicine Dr. Shockley evaluates and treats general orthopaedic problems including fractures and arthritis. Dr. Shockley has done thousands of procedures ranging from arthroscopy to total joint replacement in approximately 20 years of orthopaedic surgery.

 Shoulder Physician Panel

Samer Hasan MDSamer Hasan MD

Practice: Cincinnati Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center

Dr. Samer Hasan is a board certified surgeon specializing in shoulder, elbow, and general orthopaedic problems. Born and raised in New York City, he attended Northwestern University near Chicago where he majored in Biomedical Engineering, graduating with both honors and research honors. Dr. Hasan was awarded a Medical Scientist Training Program Scholarship from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences to pursue dual training in both medicine and engineering and received both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Vanderbilt University. 

Dr. Hasan completed his residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, where he received the prestigious American Orthopaedic Association-Zimmer Travel Award and consecutive Jorge O.Galante Excellence in Research Awards. Interested in a career as a shoulder and elbow surgeon, Dr. Hasan traveled to Seattle for a one-year appointment as a Fellow and Acting Instructor in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at the University of Washington. He received additional training in advanced shoulder arthroscopy at the Texas Orthopaedic Hospital in Houston before moving to the Tri-State area. 

Dr. Hasan has published nearly forty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has delivered over one hundred scientific presentations at national and international meetings spanning three continents. He has authored or co-authored eight chapters in major textbooks on shoulder surgery and sports medicine, including a chapter on shoulder replacement surgery for an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) textbook. He serves as an instructor and lecturer for the AAOS, the American Shoulder & Elbow Surgeons (ASES), and the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA). Between 2001 and 2006 he co-authored the review of “What’s New in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery” that is published each January in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, the leading orthopaedic journal worldwide. Dr. Hasan is a member of the Editorial Board for Arthroscopy, a leading journal on minimally invasive joint surgery, and the Publications Committee of the AAOS. In 2006, Dr. Hasan was invited to join American Shoulder & Elbow Surgeons (ASES), a society comprised of the leading national and international orthopaedic surgeons specializing in surgery of the shoulder and elbow. Admission into ASES is by nomination only and based on sustained academic and research contributions to the field. Dr. Hasan is the only ASES member in the Greater Cincinnati area and one of only three members in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 

Although Dr. Hasan has a strong and enduring interest in research and education, it is his patients that command his greatest attention. He is committed to providing each patient, athlete or non-athlete, young or old, the best non-operative and surgical orthopaedic care. His specialty interest is arthroscopic and open reconstructive surgery of the shoulder and elbow such as arthroscopic rotator cuff and shoulder instability repairs, shoulder replacement surgery including the reverse shoulder replacement, and surgeries for elbow and shoulder fractures. Dr. Hasan also has an active role in the Cincinnati SportsMedicine fellowship program, bioengineering and clinical research, and community education and outreach programs. Since 2001, he has served as team physician for Dixie Heights High School in Erlanger, Kentucky. 

When not engaged in patient care, teaching or research, Dr. Hasan enjoys spending time with his family as well as tennis, cycling, and downhill skiing. He has traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America, and to forty-seven states. 

 Dr. Hasan is licensed in Ohio and Kentucky

Robert Rolf MDRobert Rolf MD

Practice: Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine 

Robert Rolf, MD is a native of Cincinnati and a graduate of La Salle High School. He attended the University of Notre Dame where he received a BS in Chemical Engineering. After working as a Sales Engineer for two years, he returned to Cincinnati to study at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Dr. Rolf completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He continued his training as a shoulder and elbow specialist at the Boston Shoulder Institute at Harvard under the guidance of Jon JP Warner, MD; Larry Higgins, MD; and Tom Holovacs, MD. He is not only board certified in Orthopedic Surgery, but also has his Specialty Certificate in Sports Medicine.

Throughout his fellowship he received extensive training in advanced arthroscopic techniques for shoulder instability and rotator cuff tears. He also received a world class experience in complex shoulder reconstructive procedures including tendon transfers, shoulder replacement and reverse shoulder replacement. In addition, he has a strong interest in sports medicine as well as fracture management.

Dr. Rolf is the Co-Director of the Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine sports medicine fellowship, training surgeons throughout the country about sports medicine and shoulder surgery. He was recognized in 2013 by Venue Magazine as a “Great Leader Under 40.”

In 2013, Dr. Rolf was instrumental in helping TriHealth's Good Samaritan Hospital become the first Cincinnati hospital and the 12th hospital in the country to achieve The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™ for shoulder replacement. When not at work, he stays busy with his four active children. His only saving grace is that his twins like the same sports!


Good Samaritan Hospital - Orthopedics
375 Dixmyth Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
Call 513 862 2668