Dr. Thiran Udawatta

Stacia Smith, MD, FAAOS, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in joint replacement of the hip and knee. She enjoys working with people of all ages, whether it is helping a child with congenital problems or an elderly person with fractures, or arthritic problems. She enjoys helping patients decide on the options that will be most beneficial to that individual’s lifestyle. Her goal is to make her patients as functional as possible and help them return to the lifestyle they desire.As a surgeon, Dr. Smith believes it is important to not only diagnose the injury but also how it impacts the patient’s quality of life. She feels that no two patients are alike, and neither are their lifestyles. She strives to treat the person instead of just the injury, because that is when you can really make a difference.Before she began fighting orthopedic injuries, she was fighting fires as a volunteer firefighter. While orthopedic surgery isn’t always a life or death situation, it can certainly be exciting. There are few things she finds more rewarding than making a significant difference in improving a patient’s quality of life.Dr. Smith and her husband love to spend time outdoors. Whether they are snow skiing, horseback riding, or taking walks along the river with their son and dogs, they enjoy the beauty of the Northwest. She also enjoys ethnic foods, especially Thai. Dr. Smith is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Osteoarthritis. Her top areas of expertise are Osteoarthritis, Bursitis, Tenosynovitis, Tendinitis, and Hip Replacement.

Joel Hoekema is an Orthopedics provider in Bellingham, Washington. Dr. Hoekema is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Osteoarthritis. His top areas of expertise are Osteoarthritis, Spinal Stenosis, Bursitis, Laminectomy, and Hip Replacement. Dr. Hoekema is currently accepting new patients.

Michael K. Gannon, MD, is a board-certified and very experienced orthopedic surgeon. His practice over the last thirty years has emphasized hip and knee replacement and care of sports injuries including meniscal, ACL and rotator cuff tears. As he has treated emergency cases for decades and has repaired countless extremity injuries great and small.Dr. Gannon began his life in medicine at age sixteen as a hospital orderly and ambulance attendant. He was the second youngest in his state to pass the national EMT-A certification exam. During college he worked summers as an operating room technician plus a second job detasseling corn. He went to medical school in his home state at the University of Iowa. He received his specialty training in the highly regarded orthopedic surgery residency program at the University of Washington. After completing his orthopedic training, he had the honor to serve five years as “co-team physician” for multiple military units from smaller Special Forces and Ranger groups to infantry divisions with 12,000+ athletic members (of note such “teams” never have an off-season and are active on rough terrain day and night). Duties included work in Europe, Africa, and the Persian Gulf. Stateside, as a faculty member, he oversaw sports medicine and trauma training for orthopedic residents at Madigan Army Medical Center. He later served as civilian consultant for sports medicine for Madigan.Since 1993 he has been serving residents of Whatcom County as a member of a topflight orthopedic surgery group. Over the course of his career, he has had the privilege to treat patients and their families from amazingly diverse backgrounds, from remote Saharan herdsmen and villagers to national leaders and Rhodes scholars….  from angry enemy combatants and fierce criminals to Medal of Honor recipients and heroic first responders…. from the youngest backyard acrobats and trampolinists to past Olympians and hobbled NFL veterans. He has worked in world class medical centers to makeshift hospitals with no windows or beds but goats in the halls. Dr. Gannon has cared for patients of the innumerable combinations of races, countries of origin, life circumstances, faiths, orientations, and political beliefs. His lifelong approach has been to provide care for each person with the respect, compassion, and diligence he would wish for his own family members.Hobbies and adventures over the years have included climbing, backpacking, flying, scuba, skiing, and more recently snowshoeing and photography. His very favorite pastime is hanging out with his family. Dr. Gannon is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Osteoarthritis. His top areas of expertise are Osteoarthritis, Contracture Deformity, Frozen Shoulder, Bursitis, and Hip Replacement.