History of Fairfax Colon & Rectal Surgery
Fairfax Colon Rectal Surgery, P.C. began as a one man, single-specialty endeavor when Dr. Don Colvin opened an office on Chain Bridge Road in McLean in 1984. In those days colon and rectal surgery was a relatively new concept in the Northern Virginia area. In order to accomplish the more advanced pelvic surgeries that Dr. Colvin was capable of performing he had to buy his own special set of retractors and instruments which he would carry around with him from hospital to hospital. From the start of the practice, Dr Colvin emphasized the importance of meticulous surgical technique and scrupulous care for his patients. These values remain the linchpin of the practice to this day and have been the main reason for the growth of the practice.
In 1993, Dr. Colvin welcomed Dr. Paul Savoca to the practice. Together they expanded their presence in the community by opening a branch office across the street from Reston Hospital in 1996. During these years the practice added an anorectal physiology labatory to their office. For patients with pelvic floor abnormalities and incontinence problems this provided quicker, more reliable evaluation and treatment. In addition, an Enterostomal nurse was hired to be available to work with and teach patients who were going to need to have a colostomy or ileostomy.
Dr. Lynda Dougherty joined the group in 1999 after completing her colorectal training at the Cleveland Clinic. By this time the little office on Chain Bridge Road was no longer large enough for a practice with three full time surgeons. In November of 2000 the main office was moved into a larger space in the Yorktown 50 building on Arlington Boulevard in Fairfax. After completing a career in the U.S. Army, Dr. Dan Otchy joined the group in 2001. That year the practice began to offer transrectal ultrasonography in the office. This further enhanced our ability to assess patient’s rectal polyps and cancers and gave improved imaging of anal sphincter abnormalities. In 2004, Dr Lawrence Stern came to the group after finishing his training at the Lahey Clinic. Dr Stern had received extensive training in laproscopic surgery and his addition to the practice further motivated us to expand our endeavors in minimally invasive surgery. All of our surgeons now perform a large percentage of our operations using laproscopic techniques.
Recognizing that the overall trend in surgical practice in the future will be to do less and less inside the confines of a hospital and once again having outgrown our main office, we began to plan the next expansion of our office in 2005. Over the next 18 months we located and built out warehouse space in the Prosperity Business Park on Prosperity Avenue. This space has now been converted into our new main office and houses the Fairfax Colon & Rectal Surgery Center, L.L.C. We opened at this location in January 2007. This space of over 9000 square feet contains a spacious, beautifully furnished office with plenty of convenient parking for our patients. We continue to offer anorectal physiology testing and treatment, transrectal ultrasound, as well as consultation with our Enterostomal nurse on the premises. The Surgery Center is co-located with the office and we now are able to perform the majority of our colonoscopic procedures and anorectal surgeries in this location. This makes the patient’s experience more efficient and relaxing as it is done in a quieter, less hectic environment than is often experienced at the hospital.
Over the past 25 years, Fairfax Colon & Rectal Surgery, P.C. has expanded and changed locations. But we remain dedicated to the same values that Dr. Colvin initially began with – a thorough dedication to patient care with an emphasis on meticulous surgical technique and scrupulous postoperative management of the patient. We will continue to incorporate the latest proven diagnostic and surgical techniques into our practice as we strive to continue to achieve excellence for the benefit of our patients.