Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Coastal Prosthetics and Orthotics, LLC Story


COASTAL PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS, LLC

Providing hope and help for patients of all ages

by Cristi Sanchez


Office Manager Karen Vaughn and Co-owner Bobby Siverd <BR>Photo by Michele Thompson

Office Manager Karen Vaughn and Co-owner Bobby Siverd
Photo by Michele Thompson

It's amazing how often people take the little things in life for granted. Like breathing, some actions are simply second nature. They take no conscious effort, or thought; they just seem to happen. To be able to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen for a morning cup of coffee is just expected. However, for those who suffer a motor deficiency due to injury, illness, or limb loss, that walk for coffee is more complicated. Their mobility requires orthotic bracing or prosthetic limbs, and that's where Coastal Prosthetics and Orthotics comes in.

From their new, recently relocated headquarters in the Oakbrooke Business and Technology Center in Greenbrier, Coastal Prosthetics and Orthotics provides help and hope to patients through their unique services of custom fitting and manufacturing of orthotic braces and prosthetic limbs. Serving patients who have been referred, Coastal's dedicated team of practitioners and technicians work hand-in-hand with physicians and therapists to provide the devices people need to assist them and ease their mobility deficits.

Coastal co-owner Bobby Siverd is passionate about his family-owned company and the work that they do. "I love what we do!" he smiles. "There's no other company in this area that does what we do to provide local, in-house quality prosthetics and orthotics. This is a great family business."

"My uncle, Steve, has been doing this for over 30 years," Bobby continues. "He came to Virginia straight out of technical school in Pittsburgh, and was hired by Ron Hopkins at another company as an orthotic and prosthetic technician to manufacture braces and limbs."

Over the years, Steve worked in the field working his way up to becoming a Certified prosthetist/orthotist- a healthcare worker who helps to fit patients with prosthetic limbs and orthotic braces.

In 2001, Ron and Steve became business partners along with another colleague, Harry Bright, and branched out on their own to form Coastal Prosthetics and Orthotics. "Eventually, the other two owners retired and Steve took over the reigns at the company," Bobby explains.

Coastal began on the road to becoming a family business in 2005 when Bobby came on board as an ODU undergraduate who needed a summer job. "As it happened, my uncle needed summer help at Coastal. We've always had a really close, tight-knit relationship, and I thought it would be fun to help him out even though I had no idea at the time what any of the braces were that I was working on!" Bobby recalls laughing.

Following in his uncle's footsteps, Bobby also started out as a technician, learned the business, and obtained all the required certifications to work his way up to a certified orthotic practitioner.

Now a co-owner in the business with his uncle, Bobby is very excited about the new location and the building that houses Coastal's home base. "We worked very closely with designers in the creation of our new building and we're exceptionally happy with how it turned out," Bobby says with pride.

Designed with patients in mind, Coastal's new entry and waiting area have clean, crisp, and bright décor with modern fixtures, high ceilings, and sea blue and green walls, providing a tranquil yet bright and cheerful environment.

But the design goes beyond the aesthetics. The building houses six spacious exam rooms and two gait rooms. "Patients need space and privacy when being fitted with and trying out their new braces or limbs," Bobby explains. Spanning the length of three exam rooms are the large gait rooms, accessed by doors that are off from the exam rooms. "Patients try walkingâ€"or runningâ€"with their new limbs in here," he continues. "The little kids often run. It's a great moment to see patients so hopeful and happy as they try out their devices."

The entire back of the building houses the fabrication lab, cordoned off into different, dedicated areas where the custom devices are manufactured. "We've always had our own on-site fabrication. This is where we make everything for our patients," Bobby explains.

"We have areas where technicians do plaster molding, plaster mold modifications, and sculpting. These are all done for both braces and prosthetic limbs." They also have a sewing room for braces and a clean room where robotic limbs are cleaned and tested.


"Sometimes they wouldn't be able to walk
or stand properly
without our medical devices.
So, to be a part of the team,
along with their doctors and therapists,
that makes that happen
 is extremely rewarding.
To see someone walking on their own
because of the braces we make
is amazing!"

- Bobby Siverd


Despite all of the extensive cosmetic, technology, and architectural improvements in the new facility, what pleases Bobby most is how much more functional the building is in providing services to their patients.

"Our business has grown over time and the technology in this field is ever-changing," Bobby explains. "We simply outgrew our old building and didn't have the space to function efficiently. We have to function efficiently if we're going to serve our patients well."

Adults come to Coastal for different reasons, such as custom inserts for diabetic neuropathy, or lower extremity bracing for neuromuscular conditions due to stroke, MS, ALS or spinal injury. While the conditions requiring bracing or prosthetics are different, every patient, young, old, or in-between, receives the same attention to detail and quality care and products.

"As a pediatric specialist, working with children is very rewarding," Bobby says smiling. "Sometimes they wouldn't be able to walk or stand properly without our medical devices. So, to be a part of the team, along with their doctors and therapists, that make that happen is extremely rewarding. To see someone walking on their own because of the braces we make is amazing!"

Everyone at Coastal Prosthetics and Orthotics has a heart for helping individuals with motor deficits, and they work diligently to see patients' lives improved. Their patient-focused mission is to provide the highest quality care, and to provide not just medical devices for mobility, but to provide help and hope to make the little things in life less complicated.c




Coastal Prosthetics & Orthotics, LLC

433 Network Station
Chesapeake, 23320

757-892-5300
www.coastalpando.com