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Orthopedic surgeon Kimberly McLean joins expanding Oaklawn service

Orthopedic surgeon Kimberly McLean joins expanding Oaklawn service

MARSHALL – Kimberly Grillo McLean was compelled from an early age to be active and involved in sports. As a result, she learned some significant lessons about life – and her future career.

“As a child and throughout my adolescence, I was involved in athletics – playing basketball, volleyball, softball all through high school,” she mused. “The passion never subsided.”

Today McLean can trace that love to her career as a physician, and to her new position as an orthopedic surgeon for the Oaklawn Medical Group.

“Because I was involved in athletics as a kid, I learned a lot about teamwork,” said the Clarkston resident. “Being active still motivates me. I work out every day. I find peace in physical fitness.”

After McLean obtained a degree in exercise science, a high score on a medical college admission test provided sufficient motivation to pursue more challenging goals in health care.

“With the sports medicine background, I always knew orthopedic surgery was for me,” she said.

“I look back now and say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I have this job where I can help people get back to being active’ – whatever being active may mean to them,” McLean said. “Being able to provide that for people now is just amazing. It does really go back to my childhood and those same goals and my belief about how fitness can enhance your life.”

McLean has joined a growing team of medical professionals who now see patients as part of Oaklawn’s broad-based expansion of orthopedic services.

At the start of this year, Robert S. Schaefer, M.D., of Portage-based Orthopaedic Associates of Kalamazoo, began seeing Oaklawn patients as an independent medical professional, assisting Kurt Piatkowski, D.O., with patients in Oaklawn’s Emergency Room.

In early August, Tracy Smith joined the medical group as a Physician Assistant to Schaefer. In that capacity, Smith assists with patients in Schaefer’s office, works with patients in the hospital and operating room, and provides computer assistance.

“Oaklawn offers a full range of orthopedic surgical services and skills close to home in Calhoun County and among the many other communities we serve, especially with the addition of Kim McLean to our growing orthopedic team,” said Mark Montross, Executive Director of the Oaklawn Medical Group.

McLean is a Michigan native but wasn’t familiar with Marshall until she began considering working there. A visit to Oaklawn during the 2015 Christmas season convinced her that the community and the hospital were a good fit.

“It just clicked for me,” she said. “The town is very homey and quaint, and the hospital grabbed our attention right away. Everybody knows your name. For me, it’s all about the people and the community and the environment, more than the job itself.”

In late 2012, the former Kimberly Grillo married Cory McLean, a native of Fargo, N.D. The couple will continue to live in the Jackson area because of his work in the metropolitan Detroit area as a sales manager for a medical device company.

“I’m a huge animal lover and am obsessed with my dogs,” Dr. McLean said, adding that the couple of two five-year-old dogs of the Alaskan Klee Kai breed, which resemble huskies. “We walk and hike and take the dogs to state parks and anywhere we can go on the weekends.”

Also high on the list of the couple’s activities are golfing and travel, particularly to South Dakota, where her husband’s family now live.

McLean received a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science in 2004 from Western Michigan University, where she received magna cum laude undergraduate honors. After doing postgraduate coursework at the University of Rochester, she received her doctorate in osteopathic medicine in 2010 at Touro University’s Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine. She went on to complete her residency in orthopedic surgery at Michigan State University-McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac.

McLean completed her Sports Medicine Fellowship earlier this year at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA., during which time she provided medical coverage and served as team physician for the Pittsburgh Pirates (major league baseball), the USA Eagles (rugby World Cup 2015), the Pittsburgh Riverhounds professional soccer team, Robert Morris University’s Division 1 women’s hockey team as well as high school football in Michigan.

McLean is a member of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, the Arthroscopic Association of North America, AOTrauma, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics, the Michigan Orthopedic Society and the American Osteopathic Association.

The medical group’s orthopedic services are based at the Marshall Specialty Clinic at 203 Winston Drive in Marshall. The office may be reached by calling (269) 789-4380.