Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Center

Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Center Our specialty-trained doctors are committed to providing expert orthopedic care to patients throughout Northwest Missouri and beyond.

Nationally recognized orthopedic surgeons – Brett Miller, Corey Trease, Blake Peterson, J Michael Smith, John Weitlich & Christopher Schaefer – have joined forces to serve patients in The Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Centers (OSMC). This exceptional team of specialists provide outstanding surgical and non-surgical care throughout Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas.

Dr. Bradley Spence performed a robotic-assisted minimally invasive spine fusion at the Surgery Center of the Northland i...
08/06/2026

Dr. Bradley Spence performed a robotic-assisted minimally invasive spine fusion at the Surgery Center of the Northland in Platte City, Missouri. The patient went home the same day. Pain-free.

Two years ago this procedure did not exist in this region. Patients who needed this level of spine surgery traveled to Kansas City or further. A hospital stay. Days away from home during the hardest part of recovery. Dr. Spence looked at that reality and decided it was not good enough for the community he chose to practice in.

He brought the technology here. He built the capability at an outpatient surgery center in Platte City. He made it so a patient in Northwest Missouri or the Northland could have the same robotic-assisted spine surgery performed at major medical centers across the country and recover at home in their own bed that same night.

Dr. Spence is the first surgeon in this region to offer robotic-assisted spine surgery at an ambulatory surgery center. He is fellowship-trained. He lives here. He practices here. And the biggest names in surgical technology are now watching what he is building in a town most of them had never heard of before he put it on the map.

We are proud to have Dr. Spence on our team.

Globus Medical

07/31/2026

You have been waking up at night shaking feeling back into your hands for months now.

You've adjusted how you sleep.
You shake it out in the morning before your feet hit the floor.
You've gotten used to it in the way people get used to things they wish would just go away.

It does not have to stay this way.

What you are describing is worth a conversation.

Not a Google search.
Not another few months of waiting to see if it resolves on its own.

An actual conversation with someone who can look at what is going on and tell you what your options are.

That is what we are here for.

07/30/2026

22 years in private practice teaches you something that textbooks cannot.

When orthopedic care started moving toward hyper-specialization the surgical outcomes got better.
Fellowship trained surgeons doing high volumes of specific procedures in specific areas of the body.
That advancement is real and it matters for patients with complex problems.

About 90% of the orthopedic patients we see do not ultimately need surgery.

That means the most important thing we do for most of the people who walk through our doors has nothing to do with a scalpel.

It is the conversation.
The evaluation.
The honest assessment of what is going on and what the right path forward actually looks like for that specific person.

At OSMC we have not lost sight of that. The surgical care is here when it is needed. So is everything that comes before it.

07/29/2026

Most people do not think about joint health until something hurts. By then the conversation is about treatment. Dr. Miller wants to have the conversation that happens before that.

Joint longevity does not start at 60 when the knee starts talking. It starts in your 20s and 30s when it is the last thing on your mind. The choices you make about movement and strength in those decades are deposits into a bank you will not need to access for years. When you do need it, the balance matters.

Muscle is the account. It protects your joints. It protects against injury and illness. And long term it is what keeps you independent. The research on this is not subtle. People who maintain muscle mass and stay active have measurably better joint health, fewer injuries, and more functional years than those who do not.

If you are in your 40s and you have not started, you are not too late. If you are in your 50s, you are behind but it is far from impossible. The body responds to load at every age. It just responds faster the earlier you start.

And it does not have to be complicated. Walking is one of the best things you can do for your joints and your spine. You do not have to pound the pavement. You do not have to run hard. You just have to move.

If you have the time and the willingness, the combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise is the formula. There is nothing that beats it for joint health, longevity, and keeping your body doing what you need it to do for as long as possible.

Start now. Whatever that looks like for you today.

OSMC has been named one of the Top Health Plans in America by Health Rosetta and awarded the 2026 Rosie Award.If you hav...
07/28/2026

OSMC has been named one of the Top Health Plans in America by Health Rosetta and awarded the 2026 Rosie Award.

If you have never heard of this, here is why our entire team is celebrating.

Every year, an independent national organization called Health Rosetta evaluates employer health plans across the country and grades them on how they perform. What the care truly costs. The quality of the experience. And whether the money saved makes it back into the hands of the employees and families the plan was built for.

They evaluate thousands of plans. The ones that score at the top earn the Rosie Award, widely considered one of the most rigorous independent recognitions in American healthcare.

What makes this different is that it has nothing to do with how we treat patients. It is about how we take care of our own people.

Under the leadership of CEO Cheryl Kidwell and Brett Miller, MD, and with the backing of our Board of Directors, OSMC stopped waiting for the health insurance market to fix itself and rebuilt our employee health plan from the ground up. In under a year:

We brought a direct primary care physician in-house, giving our employees real access to a doctor who knows them. Nobody was required to switch. Employees who wanted to keep their own physician kept them. The goal was to add an option, not take one away.

We moved to a high quality, low cost pharmacy benefits manager, replacing the pricing games that quietly inflate drug spend for employers and employees alike.

And most importantly, we put money back in our employees' hands.

That last one is the whole point. A health plan is not a line item to be managed down. It is compensation. When you build it well, the savings show up in your people's paychecks and in their willingness to use their benefits.

So to every employer in St. Joseph, Platte City, and across Northwest Missouri looking at another double digit renewal: that increase is not a law of nature. It is a result of how your plan is built.

We know, because we changed ours. And we are glad to show anyone who asks exactly how we did it.

Congratulations to Cheryl, Dr. Miller, our Board of Directors, and the entire OSMC team.

07/28/2026

That MRI you have been putting off because you assumed it would take all day?

It took her less than 20 minutes.

She walked into OSMC this morning expecting to see her physician.

We got her scanned the same visit.
Knee MRI. In and out in under 20 minutes.
Results going directly to her physician before she left the building.

Our MRI suite is built around the patient experience not just the image.

If you are claustrophobic we have you covered.

The machine has built-in airflow, lighting designed to reduce anxiety, music, and AI-integrated technology that cuts scan times significantly without cutting corners on image quality.

Cash pay MRI is available with a physician order.
No prior authorization required.
MRI without contrast $450. MRI with contrast $600.

If you have already been seen at OSMC your physician can order imaging the same visit

Same day scanning based on availability.

The answers you have been waiting on are closer than you think.

07/27/2026

That finger that locks down and you have to physically pull it straight.

There is a name for that.

It is called trigger finger.

What is happening is the tendon in your palm is catching inside a narrow canal called the tendon sheath.

It gets stuck on the way through.

That is the pop you feel.
That is the locking.
And for a lot of people it is worst in the morning, loosens up during the day, and comes right back the next day.

For many patients, splinting and anti-inflammatory approaches can improve it significantly. The goal is to reduce the swelling around the tendon so it can glide through the sheath without catching.

In more severe cases, or when conservative treatment has not changed the picture, a surgical release is a straightforward procedure that opens the sheath so the tendon can move freely again. Recovery is quick. And for most patients the problem does not come back.

If your finger has been catching or locking and you have been working around it for months, it is worth having a conversation about what is going on and what the options look like.

07/24/2026

A construction worker drops something heavy on his foot. Same day evaluation. If we are open, come straight to us. We will X-ray it and assess it. If it is after hours, urgent care or the ER works. That one should not wait.

A bone is visibly coming through the skin. Do not stop. Do not grab a drink on the way. Go directly to the emergency room. That is likely headed to surgery and the team needs you to have nothing to eat or drink before they can help you.

A 55-year-old falls and has severe hip pain and cannot move their leg at all. If getting into a car comfortably is not possible, that one needs the emergency room. A hip fracture needs to be ruled out with imaging and that situation should not wait overnight.

A retired nurse trips over the dog, her wrist is sore and tender but not deformed. That one can absolutely wait. Walk in to see us or schedule with one of our orthopedic physicians. No emergency room needed.

A weightlifter feels a sharp pull in their lower back mid-lift. Unless there is pain radiating down the legs, this can wait. Ice, over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, a little rest, and come see us the next business day. There is no reason to sit in an emergency room for that.

The pattern is pretty simple. If something is visibly wrong, you cannot bear weight, or you genuinely cannot manage the pain, go to the ER. If it hurts but you can function, we can likely see you and get you taken care of.

And if you are not sure? Call us. Every situation is a little different and a two-minute conversation can save you hours in a waiting room. We would rather talk it through with you than have you guess.

Walk in to OSMC in St. Joseph or Platte City. Most patients do not need a referral. Call us to verify your specific coverage at (816) 750-6803 St. Joseph or (816) 720-6860 Platte City.

07/23/2026

When is it okay to wait on an injury and when do you need to be seen right away?

Most of the time when something hurts, waiting a few days is reasonable. Life is full. Work, school, sports, everything pulling in every direction. And for a lot of minor things, the body takes care of itself.

But there are specific injuries where waiting changes the outcome. Here is what the orthopedic team at OSMC in St. Joseph and Platte City wants you to know.

A pop in the elbow needs prompt evaluation. A distal biceps rupture, the tendon that connects the biceps muscle to the elbow, has a clear surgical window. Research shows that outcomes decline significantly when repair is delayed beyond the first few weeks. Any sudden pop at the elbow is worth a same week evaluation.

Achilles ruptures are similar. They tend to get attention quickly because they are difficult to ignore. If you felt something give way at the back of your ankle, come in.

Back pain with leg pain, weakness, or numbness is a different situation than back pain alone. That combination, especially weakness that is spreading, needs prompt orthopedic attention, not a wait and see approach.

The same applies in the neck. A cervical injury with numbness or tingling in the hands or weakness in the arms should be evaluated quickly.

The general principle is this. Pain by itself can often wait. Pain with neurological symptoms, a sudden pop, or progressive weakness is a different conversation.

And if you are not sure which category you are in, that is exactly what the team at OSMC is here for. A conversation is often all it takes to know whether you need to be seen today or whether it is safe to monitor at home.

Walk in to OSMC in St. Joseph or Platte City. Most patients do not need a referral. Call us to verify your specific coverage at (816) 750-6803 St. Joseph or (816) 720-6860 Platte City.

She drove an hour and a half.Called from the car.Said she could not get in anywhere closer for three weeks and she was i...
07/23/2026

She drove an hour and a half.
Called from the car.
Said she could not get in anywhere closer for three weeks and she was in too much pain to wait that long.

She was ready to beg for an appointment.

The scheduler told her she did not need one.

Walk in. Today. We will see you when you get here.

The patient went quiet for a second. Then asked if she was serious. She was.

The patient showed up. Was seen by our team.

Left with imaging, a diagnosis, and a treatment plan.

Same day.
Same building.
Drove home.

Most people do not know Walk-In Orthopedic Care exists.

They assume they need a referral.
They assume they need an appointment.
They assume the earliest they can be seen is next month.

Our schedulers hear that assumption every single day and corrects it every single time.

Walk-In Orthopedic Care is available at OSMC in St. Joseph and Platte City, Missouri with no appointment required. Fellowship-trained orthopedic specialists. In-house imaging available same week. Most patients do not need a referral.

http://osmcortho.com/. (816) 750-6803 St. Joseph or (816) 720-6860 Platte City.

Address

3107 Frederick Avenue, Suite B
Saint Joseph, MO
64506

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 7am - 4:30pm
Friday 7am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+18162339888

Website

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