Kortney Hodgson, PA-C

Dr. Nora Fullington is a board-certified general surgeon and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, specializing in minimally invasive ambulatory hernia and gallbladder surgery. 

Educational Background:

• General Surgery Residency – University of Massachusetts
• Research Fellowship – Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital Boston
• Doctor of Medicine – New York Medical College
• Biology Degree – Providence College 

Dr. Fullington performed over 2000 operations while working as a hospital based General Surgeon for several years. She joined us in early 2021 to specialize in ambulatory hernia and gallbladder surgery.  Dr. Fullington was trained by Dr. Reinhorn on the open preperitoneal inguinal hernia repair and the Shouldice (non-mesh) hernia repair. In addition to offering open preperitoneal mesh and non-mesh hernia repairs, her laparoscopic training and experience allows us to offer laparoscopic hernia surgery for patients who for various reasons would benefit from this approach. Dr. Fullington is a national expert in hernia repair with lectures and publication of peer-reviewed studies on approaches to hernia repair and improvement of patient outcomes.

Additionally, given her vast laparoscopic experience, she brings  expertise in gallbladder surgery to our practice. She is committed to providing specialized, high quality, patient-centered care while creating a comfortable experience for her patients. Dr. Fullington sees office patients in Wellesley, Massachusetts as well as in Derry, New Hampshire.  The practice offers surgery at Mass General Brigham Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Boston Outpatients Surgical Suites and Surgery Center of New Hampshire – Derry. 

She is passionate about humanitarianism in medicine and has organized surgical mission trips to Haiti to treat the underserved population in Port au Prince and surrounding communities and has facilitated “Humanism in Medicine” lecture series. She cares deeply that patients feel heard and understood, have their questions and concerns valued and addressed, and feel the benefits of a collaborative approach to their care.  

When not working she enjoys time with her family, friends, and pets, travel, sports, hiking, biking, the ocean, almost all outdoor activities, and good conversation. 

Learn more about Dr. Fullington’s professional history

 

Check out Dr. Fullington’s profile on Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. 

Kortney Hodgson is a physician assistant with eight years of experience in the care of patients suffering with a variety of surgical conditions. In 2022 she joined the Boston Hernia team. Her goal was to  specialize in ambulatory hernia surgery with dedication to improving the quality of care for patients with hernia. Throughout her practice, she has compassionately cared for thousands of patients. Kortney is a big believer that patients who are better educated about their surgery and expected recovery have better outcomes. She works closely with Drs. Fullington and Reinhorn, as a part of a patient care team, offering the highest level of care.  She is integral in all aspects of our patients care,  from preoperative evaluation, education, and development of treatment plans. She is highly trained as a surgical assistant and in the management of patients recovering from hernia surgery. Through a team approach, each patient is allowed a greater opportunity to have their individual needs met and feel better prepared for surgery. She works everyday to improve the care experienced by every patient who visits Boston Hernia. 

Kortney is a true professional, dedicated to her patients. Her work at Cleveland Clinic, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Newton Wellesley Hospital has consistently resulted in the accolades of her patients and colleagues. We are very happy to have her join us in our passion to provide the best care possible to our patients at Boston Hernia.

Kortney is from Buffalo, NY. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, a Master of Science in Health Sciences from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, and a Post-Degree Professional Certificate in Physician Assistant Studies from Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio. 

Dr. Michael (Micki) Reinhorn is a board-certified general surgeon, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, specializing in ambulatory hernia surgery. He is also an associate clinical professor of surgery at Tufts University. His practice is located near Boston and services most of New England. Dr. Reinhorn sees office patients in Wellesley, Massachusetts as well as in Derry New Hampshire.  The practice offers surgery at Mass General Brigham Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Boston Outpatients Surgical Suites and Surgery Center of New Hampshire – Derry. 

Dr Reinhorn serves as a consultant for the American Board of Surgery in order to help define the standard of care in inguinal hernia surgery.

Educational Background:

• Doctor of Medicine & General Surgery Residency- Boston University
• Engineering degree – Cornell University
• Master’s degree in Business Administration – Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University

Dr. Reinhorn has performed over 4,400 hernia operations and has published his outcomes in peer reviewed medical journals and reports all patient outcomes to a national database. While performing over 500 hernia operations each year, Dr. Reinhorn is working to identify ways to reduce opioid prescribing and utilization in hernia patients. He is the chairperson of the opioid reduction task force for the Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative (ACHQC). He is also passionate about improving value within the healthcare system for patients, providers, payers, and employers. Dr. Reinhorn was recently elected by the Americas Hernia Society to represent them on the board of the ACHQC. He is an expert in work related groin injuries.  Dr. REinhorn and has lectured nationally about groin injuries, defining value in hernia care, patient reported outcomes, opioid reduction strategies and inguinal hernia surgery and anatomy. He has authored and co-authored peer reviewed publications and book chapters on inguinal hernia surgery.

Over his surgical career, Dr. Michael Reinhorn has developed expertise in minimally invasive inguinal and umbilical hernia surgery. While no formal training after surgical residency is required to become a hernia surgeon, as a result of his 21 years of experience focusing on ambulatory hernia surgery, he has become an expert in this subspecialty. His practice is focused on inguinal hernia, umbilical hernia and epigastric hernia in order to provide an optimal level of specialized and personalized care for patients suffering from these conditions.

When not working, he enjoys time with his wife and three children, including hiking in the White Mountains, skiing, swimming, biking, traveling and cooking.

Dr. Reinhorn’s Downloadable CV

 

Check out Dr. Reinhorn’s profile on the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.

Lauren Ott is a physician assistant who has expertise in ambulatory hernia surgery. Over the last 6 years, Lauren has evaluated well over 5000 patients with groin hernias and umbilical hernias. Lauren and Dr. Reinhorn work together in the office as a team; spending more time with each patient, examining, educating, and discussing treatment options including surgery. Lauren sees patients immediately before and after their surgeries, and is trained to assist Dr. Reinhorn in the operating room. As a surgical assistant, she has developed mastery of inguinal hernia surgery and umbilical hernia surgery, and in addition to assisting in surgery, she functions as surgical coach. Lauren’s strengths are her ability to connect with people quickly, and explain complex diagnosis and treatment to anyone. By working closely with Dr. Reinhorn, she strives to improve the quality of care of each patient.  

Lauren serves on the Opioid Reduction Task Force of the Abdominal Hernia Society Quality Collaborative.  Together with surgeons across the country, this group is working hard to reduce the impact of post op surgical prescribing has on the epidemic

Lauren grew up in Erie, PA and has an undergraduate degree in Athletic Training from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a Masters in Physician Assistant Studies from MCPHS University in Boston.

 

 

The Boston Hernia team is comprised of four providers and three specialized support staff.  Each of our support staff is trained to be a medical assistant, surgical coordinator and front office specialist.  Our staff spend 1-2 years with us before matriculating in medical school, physician assistant programs or nurse practitioner programs.  By having future providers take on this role in our practice we are able to offer a specialized level of care and service that our patients appreciate. Due to the complexity of medical care and the small size of our practice, our staff takes expert care of our existing patients, but cannot offer medical advice over the phone or email to patients that have not been seen by one of our providers.