Franklin Hospital helps ex-NFL player

A collaboration between a local hospital and a medical resource program for retired NFL players helped a former Kansas City Chiefs running back in financial trouble get some much-needed pain relief.

Woodrow “Woody” Green, an NFL player from 1974-1976, recently underwent total knee replacement surgery at Franklin Hospital in North Valley Stream with the help of the Pain Alternatives Solutions and Treatments program. PAST, an independent medical organization that provides evaluations and services to retired NFL players, including those who lack health insurance, specializes in managing chronic pain.

Green, a first round-draft pick out of Arizona State in 1974, suffered from acute chronic pain in his knees after an injury he sustained in the NFL. His injury progressed into a severe knee deformity and the condition inhibited his motion. After reaching out to PAST, he received several pro bono pain management procedures to treat his chronic pain and the injury that stopped him from walking.

Officials at PAST reached out to Franklin Hospital two months ago to perform the knee replacement surgery on Green — who only had Medicare — and doctors at Franklin accepted the challenge. They flew Green to New York, waived certain insurance fees and performed the surgery. “Woody had no other options,” said Dr. Giles Scuderi, the orthopedic surgeon who performed the procedure. “The extreme misalignment of his knee, in combination with severe arthritis and an amount of bone loss that required treatment, meant that he needed to undergo a total knee replacement if he was ever going to regain some of his lost motion or be free of pain, discomfort and disability.”

Scuderi, whose practice focuses on adult knee reconstruction and sports medicine, corrected and rebuilt Green’s entire knee joint, with the support of Franklin’s team of nurses, physical therapists and surgical staff. The surgery took about two hours, he said, and Green recuperated at Franklin for four days, and rehabilitated his knee at the adjoining Orzac Center for Extended Care and Rehabilitation for three weeks.

For the first time in years, Green’s knee was straight and his prior pain had disappeared.