It was virtually preordained that Michael G. Wilson, MD, was going to be an orthopedic surgeon.
“My father and grandfather were both orthopedic surgeons, and I was introduced to life in a hospital as a teenager when my father noticed me sitting around on a summer day,” Dr. Wilson recalls. “He told me to meet him at the hospital the next morning at 6:30 a.m. and I found myself in the basement, cleaning and wrapping instruments to be used in surgery. I continued to work a variety of hospital jobs every vacation through high school and college.”
Dr. Wilson has come a long way from that basement. Effective Dec. 1, 2021, he became Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Auburn Community Hospital (ACH), replacing Paul Fu, MD, who accepted a position at a medical facility near Boston.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Wilson as our new Chief Medical Officer,” says ACH President and CEO Scott Berlucchi. “Dr. Wilson not only has excellent clinical skills as an orthopedic surgeon but has excellent management experience.”
Dr. Wilson has been on staff at ACH since May of 2020, serving as deputy CMO. He is a surgeon at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists with a focus on traumatic injuries and complete care of foot and ankle injuries.
A native of California, Dr. Wilson attended medical school and completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center where he also met his wife Donna, a nurse. The two have been married for 37 years and have two sons, Caleb and Ben.
Dr. Wilson practiced in Boston for 25 years, completing a fellowship in adult orthopedic reconstruction at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, an experience he calls “inspirational, challenging and intimidating.”
He also served as Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at the West Roxbury Veteran’s Hospital and the Faulkner Hospital, also in Boston. In 1995, he founded the Harvard Fellowship in Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Surgery and, as an assistant professor of Orthopedic Surgery, taught dozens of fellows and hundreds of residents at Harvard Medical School.
Prior to joining ACH, Dr. Wilson was the Chair of the Surgery Governance Committee at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca for eight years.
As CMO, Dr. Wilson will be responsible for overseeing the medical operations of the hospital, including credentialing, physician practice evaluation, recruiting new medical staff, examining clinical operations, identifying ways to improve efficiency and ensuring quality and safety. He will also continue to practice as an orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. Wilson said it is an honor to accept the position of CMO.
“For me, CMO means commitment to the quality of medical services we provide, while working to ensure the success of the physicians and affiliate providers,” he says. “This is a great place to work and I hope that I can contribute to the growth and excellence of Auburn Community Hospital.”
A Second Dream Achieved
A California native, Michael G. Wilson, MD, earned an advanced degree in wine making and long dreamed of having his own winery like those he visited in Sonoma and Napa.
He realized that dream in 2014, when he and his wife Donna purchased a farm on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake and established Bright Leaf Vineyard. Today, the vineyard produces 3,500 cases of premium wine that is fermented in large stainless steel tanks and aged in French oak.
Dr. Wilson calls his winery the perfect counterpart to the indoor, artificially lit environment of the hospital, with plenty of fresh air, singing birds and wide-open lake views.
For more information, visit brightleafvinyard.com.