Podiatrist/sports medicine advocate celebrated for 12 years at Sharon Health Center
Gifford staff gathered on March 25 to celebrate podiatrist Dr. Rob Rinaldi’s 12 years of service to an expanding community of athletes, and to wish him well as he transitions to new roles in the organization.
The party featured a cake shaped like a foot, lots of foot jokes, and heartfelt stories about Rinaldi’s many contributions and roles at Gifford: as generous mentor, sports medicine advocate, surgeon, and the force behind the very successful Sharon Health Center and sports medicine clinic.
“I flunked the first time I retired!” Rinaldi quipped, explaining that he missed seeing patients when he left a thriving Connecticut practice and retired to his farm in Chelsea in 2000. So when Gifford Administrator Joe Woodin approached him about expanding sports medicine at Gifford, he was receptive: “I didn’t want to sound too anxious, so I said yes!”
Rinaldi helped design the first phase of the Sharon Health Center, which opened in 2005. By 2008 a 2,200 square foot expansion was added to accommodate the growing sports medicine clinic, and a final planned 2,600 square foot expansion was added in 2014.
Today, athletes come from all over the Upper Valley to the center, which includes a physical therapy gym space; x-ray technology and mounted flat screens for reviewing radiological exams; physical therapy treatment rooms; and a state-of- the-art gait analysis system. The sports medicine team includes: Michael Chamberland, DC (chiropractic/sports medicine); Paul Smith, DPM (podiatry/sports medicine); Nat Harlow, DO; and Peter Loescher, MD (sports medicine); and a team of physical therapists.
“Rob brought years of business experience to the creation of Sharon Health Center,” Woodin said. “But he also brought his pride in what he does, and his entrepreneurial spirit to Gifford.”
The stories Rinaldi’s colleagues told described a generous and compassionate mentor: “Rob was the voice of wisdom, the one people came to when facing some sort of challenge,” said Vice President of Surgery Rebecca O’Berry.
Although he will no longer be seeing patients, Rinaldi will continue to serve on administrative committees at Gifford, and will work with residents at the new Menig Nursing home when it opens this spring in Randolph Center.
