Subspecialty Faculty
Richard K. Orr MD, MPH, FACS
Dr. Orr is the director of surgical education and chief of general surgery at Spartanburg Regional. He is also director of surgical oncology and endocrine surgery. After completing his surgical oncology fellowship, Dr. Orr was in full-time academic practice at the University of Miami from 1984-86. He joined the Fallon Clinic, a multi-specialty group practice in Worcester, MA, in 1986, where he established a busy clinical practice as Chief of Surgical Oncology. While at Fallon, he contributed academically as an Assistant Program Director for the University of Massachusetts surgical residency and won awards as the Fallon Clinic researcher of the year and the U Mass surgical residency teacher of the year. Following 11 years at Fallon, Dr. Orr returned to the Midwest as a surgical oncologist and endocrine surgeon at the Marshfield Clinic – a very large multi-specialty group in central Wisconsin.
Dr. Orr's move to Spartanburg was spurred by the development of the Gibbs Cancer Center and by a surgical residency program in need of his particular skills. Since he arrived in Spartanburg in 1999 as Director of Surgical Oncology, he has been particularly active in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and specializes in breast conserving surgery. In 2001, he was appointed director of the General Surgery Residency. Continuing his academic productivity, he has now published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and has been a part of 75 national and regional presentations. Most of his research relates to breast diseases and medical decision-making. He has been on the editorial board of four journals, including the American Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of Surgical Education. Dr. Orr has received faculty appointments at four different medical schools and is currently Associate Professor of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina. In Spartanburg he has received a resident award for excellence in teaching.
Dr. Orr is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and member of many specialty societies: Society of Surgical Oncology, American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, American Hepatopancreatobiliary Society, Southeastern Surgical Congress, New England Surgical Society, Society for Medical Decision Making, and Association of Program Directors in Surgery.
Medical School: University of South Florida
Residency: University of South Florida
Fellowship: Medical College of Virginia
MPH: University of Massachusetts
Links: Dr. Richard Orr's Website
Clinical Interests: Breast Surgery
Surgical Oncology, especially melanoma, esophagus, and liver
Endocrine Surgery
Laparoscopic Approaches to Surgical Oncology
Bloodless Medicine
Charles Morrow, Jr. MD, FACS
Dr. Chuck Morrow is assistant program director and director of the trauma service. He is currently medical staff president-elect. Dr. Morrow is a 1998 graduate of the surgical residency at SRMC. After graduation, he was appointed to the SRMC faculty and then took a sabbatical for trauma/critical care fellowship training at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Since his return to Spartanburg, he transformed the trauma system and upgraded our surgical trauma ICU. Dr. Morrow has been the program director’s “right hand man” and has redeveloped our curriculum. He is very active in regional and national trauma activities, as well. He is Chair of the South Carolina ACS Committee on Trauma, and is on the ATLS and National Trauma Databank sub-committees of the national ACS Committee on Trauma. He is a member of the Eastern Association for Surgery on Trauma (EAST) Careers in Trauma Committee and the Society of Critical Care Medicine Patient and Family Education Committee.
As a fellow, Dr. Morrow won first place in the Florida Committee on Trauma Resident’s Paper Competition. He has won four teaching awards at SRMC including the Golden Scalpel Award in 2003. More recently, Dr. Morrow has assisted several surgical residents who have won regional trauma competitions based on research generated by our trauma databank.
MD: University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC
Fellowship: Orlando Regional Medical Center
Links: Morrow SC Trauma
R. Barry Hird MD, FACS
Dr. Barry Hird is an assistant program director and leader of the weekly morbidity and mortality conference. After growing up in Southern California, Dr. Hird did his surgical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. In addition to his clinical work he pursued a productive one-year research hiatus (in the cardiac surgery laboratory). Upon completion of residency in 1997 he entered into private practice in Conway, SC. He spent eight years in private practice before moving on to a breast fellowship at the University of Michigan. His background gives him a unique perspective on the differences between private and academic practices. Dr. Hird has more than ten publications, most recently publishing on tamoxifen usage in ductal carcinoma in situ. Dr. Hird joined the faculty in 2005. He has been an instrumental part of improving our teaching conferences and leads a Bi-monthly conference devoted to reviewing SESAP (Surgical Education and Self Assessment Program). His focus is on ensuring that both the SESAP and morbidity and mortality conferences are geared primarily towards resident education. With his leadership we have replaced the morbidity and mortality conference with an evidence based, non-judgmental learning session. Dr. Hird is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the American Society of Breast Disease.
Medical School:
Residency: Medical University of South Carolina
Fellowship: University of Michigan
Clinical Interests: Benign and Malignant Breast Diseases
Thomas Ashley MD, FACS
Dr. Tom Ashley joined Spartanburg Regional in 1998, at which time the residency service was staffed by only two attendings (Drs. Ashley and Lepage). Although fellowship trained in colorectal surgery, Dr. Ashley considers himself a general surgeon and was director of our trauma service for many years. He remains active in trauma and staffs the trauma service with Drs. Morrow and Lombardozzi. Dr. Ashley is the director of our skills laboratory and has one several resident teaching awards.
Director, Skills Lab
Colorectal Surgery
MD: Wayne State University
Residency: Henry Ford
Fellowship: Henry Ford
W. Cuyler Calton MD, FACS
Dr. W. Cuyler Calton is the Director of the Vascular Surgery Section and medical director of the vascular lab. He is a consultant for the Regional Wound center and a member of the Foothills Cardiothoracic and Vascular. Prior to his vascular fellowship Dr. Calton was a General Surgeon in the military and was full time faculty for the General Surgery Residency at Eisenhower Army Medical Center. Dr. Calton has held appointments on the faculty of the Uniformed Health Sciences School of Medicine and the Medical College of Georgia. He is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at MUSC. His clinical practice includes both open and endovascular surgery. His research interest is in critical limb ischemia. Dr. Calton directs the vascular surgery rotation and sponsors a monthly vascular teaching conference. Dr. Calton is a member of many professional societies: Society of Vascular Surgery, Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society, Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, and the South Carolina Vascular Society. His publications reflect his experience and background, as he has published in areas ranging from technical (laparoscopic gastrostomy, nonoperative management of psuedoaneurysms), experimental (aortic aneurysm formation, prevention of adhesions, differential gene expression in aortic aneurysms), to practical (financial impact of practice changes in carotid surgery).
Medical School: Duke University
Residency: Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center
Fellowship: Geisinger Medical Center
Kristine Lombardozzi MD, FACS
Dr. Kristine Lombardozzi is the director of surgical critical care and the assistant program director of the trauma service. Dr. Lombardozzi is a 2000 graduate of the surgical residency at Methodist Hospital of Indiana/ Indiana University. She completed critical care fellowship training at the Orlando Regional Medical Center in 2001. Dr. Lombardozzi returned to Indiana after her fellowship where she was an assistant clinical professor at Indiana University and trauma/critical care faculty at the Clarian Health Care System. She came to Spartanburg in 2004. While at Spartanburg Regional she initiated our Fundamental Critical Care Support Course which is the only one offered in South Carolina. She jointly developed the surgical critical and trauma curriculum and well as developed the curriculum for our rotating residents and students. She is very active in regional and national critical care activities. She is a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and actively participates on their membership committee. She is a board member of the state chapter of SCCM. She is an active member of the Eastern Association for Surgery on Trauma (EAST).
Dr. Lombardozzi participates in many committees and projects within Spartanburg Regional. Recently, Dr. Lombardozzi has assisted our surgical critical care nurses in a project that is being presented at SCCM’s national meeting in 2008.
Director, Surgical trauma ICU
MD: University of Minnesota
Residency: Indiana University
Fellowship: Orlando Regional Medical Center
Links: Lombardozzi SCCM, Fundamentals of Critical Care Medicine
Christophe L. Nguyen MD, FACS
Dr. Nguyen is a new addition to the Spartanburg surgical community and specializes in general and thoracic surgical oncology. He developed an interest in surgical oncology during his general surgical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, and spent two additional years conducting cancer research at the Hollings Cancer Center. He then further pursued his interest in oncology by completing a two-year Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Dr. Nguyen has published numerous works in both basic science and clinical peer-review journals. He has also presented such work at international meetings such as the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. Although his training spans the entire field of surgical oncology (head and neck, breast, thoracic and GI disease), he has developed particular interest in the surgical management of thoracic and foregut malignancies. Dr. Nguyen has introduced several new minimally- invasive thoracic surgical techniques to SRMC and is one of a just a few thoracic surgeons in the state performing video-assisted (VATS) lobectomies.
Dr. Nguyen participates regularly at the resident didactic conferences and has already received one of the annual resident awards for teaching excellence.
He is a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
General Surgery Residency: Medical University of South Carolina
Research Fellowship: Hollings Cancer Center, Charleston, SC.
Surgical Oncology Fellowship: Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Links: Nguyen Fox Chase, Two years Additional Research
Clinical Interests: General Surgical Oncology; Foregut- esophagus/stomach cancer; Hepato-biliary and Pancreas; Liver metastases; RFA, pancreatic cancer; Thoracic Oncology (Lung cancer, VATS, mediastinoscopy)
Michael Orseck MD, FACS
After completing his SRMC residency in 2002, Dr. Orseck went on to plastic and reconstructive training at MCG and a prestigious cosmetic fellowship in New York City. In the short time he has been here, Dr. Orseck has revitalized plastic and reconstructive surgery and has been a tremendous help with our trauma and oncologic needs. His cosmetic practice is increasing and he works with the surgical residents in all areas of his broad plastic surgery practice.
Medical School: Ross University
Residency: SRMC
Fellowship: Medical College of Georgia
Cosmetic Fellowship: New York, NY
Links: Orseck Magnolia Center for Plastic Surgery
GENERAL SURGERY FACULTY
Robert Cochran MD, FACS
Dr. Robert Cochran completed his SRMC residency in 1983 and did post-graduate training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital during the following year. After his return to Spartanburg, he joined Hanna, Hull, and Green. Dr. Cochran has been an important part of the Spartanburg Regional political scene, serving several terms on the Board of Directors. In 2007 his group joined the hospital faculty.
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC
James Green MD, FACS
A native of rural SC, Dr. Green came to Spartanburg after completing his residency in Charleston. He joined Drs Hanna and Hull (the first SRMC graduate) in a practice that eventually evolved into Carolina Surgical Specialists. Dr. Green was Chief of Surgery at SRMC from 1981 until 2005, and maintains an active practice in general surgery. He is a past president of the South Carolina Surgical Society.
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Residency: Medical University of South Carolina
Hugh James MD, FACS
Dr. James is a Citadel graduate and a graduate of the SRMC residency program (1994). He is an active general surgeon with a special interest in advanced laparoscopy. He has been the leader in anti-reflux surgery and has received several recent teaching awards for his laparoscopic teaching. Dr. James has worked with Dr. Orr in developing minimal access techniques for esophagectomy.
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC
Ari Kramer MD, FACS
Dr. Kramer was one of the chief residents in 2001 when Dr. Orr took over as program director. With his counterpart, Dr. John Moll, Dr. Kramer was instrumental in implementing many changes that have led to the academic program that is now present. In addition to his general surgery background, he has worked with Dr. Ross, in Bamberg, SC, an expert in dialysis access. Dr. Kramer has brought these advanced vascular techniques to SRMC and considers this the main part of his practice. Dr. Kramer is extremely enthusiastic and has received teaching awards for his support of the surgical residents.
Medical School: Ross University
Residency: SRMC
Paul Lepage MD, FACS
Dr. Lepage was on the full-time surgical faculty in the late 1990’s. After several years in private practice, he merged with SRMC in 2006. He practices a full range of general surgery and specializes in the management of complex wounds.
Medical School:
Residency: Eisenhower (military)
Richard Reinhardt MD, FACS
After completing his residency at SRMC, Dr. Reinhardt did a brief stint in private practice in Columbia, SC. He returned to join Surgical Associates in 2001, and became part of the merged teaching faculty in 2006. Dr. Reinhardt practices the full range of general surgery and will be an integral part of the new hospital at Pelham.
Medical School: University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC
J. Paul Ross MD, FACS
After completing his residency at SRMC, Dr. Ross became interested in Bariatric surgery. He worked carefully to develop an excellent Bariatric program, which is one of only 4 centers of excellence in South Carolina. Residents at the PGY2-5 levels work with bariatric patients and have learned useful techniques that have been applicable to esophageal and gastric surgery. Dr. Ross has received numerous teaching awards from the surgical residents.
Medical School: University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC
Links: Ross Bariatric Surgery
Ajai Srinivasan MD, FACS
Dr. Srinivasan was an all-American tennis player at Lander University before going to medical school in Charleston. Throughout medical school and residency he displayed the same intensity, being elected to AOA and publishing several papers as a resident. Although Dr. Srinivasan was accepted into a plastic surgery fellowship, he realized his love of general surgery and joined Carolina Surgical Specialists. Dr. Srinivasan has been instrumental in the development of laparoscopic colectomy techniques at SRMC, and is one of our leaders in laparoscopic surgery. He is the most recent recipient of the Golden Scalpel award given by the surgical residents for superior teaching. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Society of Laparoendoscopic surgeons. He is currently Chief of Surgery at Spartanburg Regional.
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Residency: Medical University of South Carolina
Links: Srinivasan All-American Tennis
Auburn Woods MD, FACS
Dr. Woods was one of the early partners with Hanna, Hull, and Green (eventually Carolina Surgical Specialists) after completing his residency at SRMC in 1979. He is a former Chief of Staff and is now a full-time member of the teaching staff after the group merger in 2007. In addition to a vigorous general surgery practice, Dr. Woods is a member of the vascular laboratory and one of a few physicians qualified to read noninvasive vascular images at SRMC. Dr. Woods has received numerous teaching awards from the surgical residents.
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC
Claude Woollen MD, FACS
Dr. Woollen was in dental school at MUSC when he decided to change courses and become a physician. He completed his residency at SRMC and joined Hanna, Hull, and Green (Carolina Surgical Specialists) in 1996. Dr. Woollen is moderator for the DC Hull Tumor Board and was currently Chief of Surgery at SRMC from 2005-7.
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Residency: SRMC