GREEN BAY – It's been known in sports circles for a long time that the best care for a foot or ankle injury was in Charlotte, N.C.
Now for the Packers, it'll be right out their back door.
Dr. Robert Anderson, the nation's top orthopedic surgeon for the foot and ankle, has joined Bellin Health Titletown Sports Medicine and Orthopedics.
Bellin's new facility is part of the Titletown District under development on the west side of Lambeau Field. The 52,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in late July.
Anderson, a sports medicine expert for more than three decades, has spent the past 18 years as an assistant team physician for the Carolina Panthers.
At Bellin, he'll be joining forces with the Packers' team physician as well as a longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Pat McKenzie.
"I'm ecstatic about it," Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy said. "I think it's not only a great thing for the Green Bay Packers, it's a tremendous asset to our community.
"Dr. Anderson is the best in the business. Every foot-ankle injury conversation that I've been a part of as a head coach, his name always comes up, and it's been that way in my 20-plus years in the National Football League."
Anderson has treated Green Bay players in the past, most recently running backs Eddie Lacy and Ty Montgomery and center Corey Linsley, for their ankle injuries. Top athletes from all four major professional sports leagues have been among his patients.
Bellin's Titletown orthopedic team also will include surgeons Dr. James Ebben and Dr. James Spears. Their facility will be open to the public and will offer free walk-in injury assessments while serving as a care location for the Packers.
For Anderson, joining Bellin is a return home. He's a Wisconsin native who completed his orthopedic fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he met McKenzie.
"Having Dr. Anderson in our community is outstanding," McCarthy said. "I'm thrilled (for) Bellin and Dr. McKenzie and Dr. Anderson, what they're developing over here with Titletown Orthopedics."
