Ortho Spotlight: Jacob Ristow, MD & M Health Fairview Ridges

Welcome to Ortho Spotlight, a new monthly series dedicated to showcasing the exceptional talents within the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. With each edition, we'll cast a spotlight on a department physician and explore one of their clinical practice sites, providing a glimpse into the specialized orthopedic care and services offered.

Behind every successful clinic, there's a team of outstanding providers and ancillary staff working hard to ensure the highest quality of care for patients.

Join us as we highlight the collaborative efforts and individuals who continuously uplift our department and orthopedic care.

Spotlight: Jacob Ristow, MD

Dr. Jacob Ristow is an orthopedic surgeon and Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, whose expertise lies in shoulder and knee surgery.

After receiving his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin, he completed his orthopedic surgery residency with Michigan State University, training five years at McLaren Flint in Flint, Michigan.

Dr. Ristow's dedication to advancing his skills led him to the Twin Cities, where he completed a fellowship in Shoulder & Sports Medicine at TRIA and the University of Minnesota in 2023.

His clinical practice focuses primarily on shoulder and knee arthroscopy, but also includes arthroplasty and general trauma. He practices at several sites across the suburban metro area, including M Health Fairview Ridges in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Beyond his clinical commitments, Dr. Ristow serves as a team physician for the University of Minnesota women's basketball team and provides coverage for the Gopher men’s hockey & football teams.

What makes Ridges a great place to receive orthopedic care?

Ristow: I think our Ridges (Burnsville) Clinic is a really unique practice. It truly is your one-stop shop for all things orthopedics. This location allows patients in the southern suburbs to receive academic-level care from many University of Minnesota-affiliated providers.

In terms of amenities or facilities, on the fourth floor of the clinic, we have our surgery center, so we’re able to do our outpatient surgeries right there. We have a full-service physical therapy gym and a pharmacy, as well as in-house orthotics, bracing, CT, and MRI machines.

More recently, we have opened an orthopedic walk-in clinic, which is open Monday through Saturday. The walk-in clinic provides amazing opportunities for patients to receive immediate orthopedic care. I’d love to give a huge shout-out to Kelly Daugherty, PA-C, who started this clinic!

With all that being said, there are occasionally patients with more complex cases that may need additional care or support. Fortunately, we have the University of Minnesota system backing us. So, we have access to talented colleagues across the metro area at many different clinic sites that can provide support and care for patients.

How do providers at Ridges collaborate to offer comprehensive and personalized care for patients?

Ristow: Our collaboration at the Ridges site is second to none. It really is a testament to all the physicians, PAs, and physical therapists that I work with. But, it's also a factor of being a slightly smaller clinic. We know each other well, we’re all in the same physical space.

If I have a patient case that I want to run by someone, I can just walk down the hall to connect with one of my colleagues. This really makes collaboration much easier amongst us providers.

Because orthopedics works closely with many different specialties and providers, our patients are able to receive comprehensive care all from the same clinic location. When I send a patient to spine, physical therapy, or sports medicine, I'm not sending them to another building, another site, or another location. They're coming back to the same clinic, to the same check-in. We’ve heard that patients love this and it makes the clinic experience so much easier for them.

It sounds like Ridges provides full-service care for patients, beyond just orthopedics.

Ristow: We sure do. We have a wide range of services provided, along with a group of providers – both surgical and non-surgical –  and a fully-formed staff unit.

While I do shoulder and knee arthroscopy, which is kind of my passion and main focus, I also do arthroplasty and general trauma. Fortunately, in this position, I’m able to regularly connect with my colleagues from a variety of specialties. 

My partner, Dr. Paul Hoogervorst, does hip and knee arthroplasty, including revision. I have a wonderful colleague, Dr. Ed Wu, who takes care of pretty much anything related to the hand and fingers. 

We have a great podiatry service and an amazing sports medicine team including Drs. Albert Yeo, Marisa Bartley, AJ Sheehan, Marlena Rose Mueller, and Diana Cowdrey who do everything on the non-operative side from injections, ultrasound guided injections, and more.

Beyond that, we have some fantastic physician assistants including Brady Baartman, Chris Bryan, Kelly Daugherty, and David Law.

There’s many others, too. We really are an amazing access point for our patients.

Do you and your team have any goals or innovations that you are aiming for in the future?

Ristow: Yes, absolutely. We’re looking to grow our walk-in/urgent-care orthopedic clinic. We see this walk-in clinic as an opportunity to support our primary care colleagues. For example, primary care frequently receives phone calls from parents of children who have fallen on the playground and they’re unsure of where to go or what to do next.

By having this walk-in clinic, patients are able to come right in and see an orthopedic provider, bypassing the need to connect with a primary care provider.

At a more marco-level, Ridges is a growing location and is one of our larger clinics in the suburbs. Ultimately, our hope is to make Ridges the hub of orthopedic care for the department in the south-metro region. In order to do this, we’re aiming to increase the services and procedures we provide and further improve the ease of clinical care access for our patients.

We’re moving rapidly towards these goals. Our clinic and patient volumes are always increasing, and we have an ever-growing group of providers. Ridges has a core group of passionate, young physicians who are looking to build their practice, expand the community, and improve patient care.

Honestly, it’s just a really exciting time to be at Ridges!

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