Richard Gayle, MD

Dr. Gayle is one best Dr. I and my husband are lucky to have him. He operated on my husband’s shoulder in 2006 and mine in 2014. My husband had some kind of impingement and I had a complete rotator rupture.
We received good care under Dr.Gayle.
He is very patient, soft-​spoken, takes enough time to discuss your concerns and replies promptly on my health online. Best bed side manners as well.

I’ll admit that I’m a needy patient. I’ve had serious health issues in the past and I work in the health care industry, so I’m hyper-​vigilant about my health and I like to have things explained to me. I saw Dr. Gayle for shoulder pain and he sent me over for a MRI. The results came back showing a SLAP tear — I found this out by reading the results on the PAMF portal — so I waited for a call from Dr. Gayle to explain the results and give me some recommendations for next steps. No call came, so I called him. Once I was able to get him on the phone it was like pulling teeth to get an answer regarding what my options were, what kind of recovery I could expect from surgery, etc.
I would say his follow-​up when compared to the other PAMF doctors I see is subpar. I decided to get a second opinion outside of PAMF and I love my new doc, who is much more forthcoming with information and seems to have much more empathy than Dr. Gayle.
If you’re someone who likes to just get in and out of appointments or surgeries without any further contact from your doctor, then I’m sure Dr. Gayle is perfectly competent. If you’re looking for a more caring orthopedic surgeon who has time to talk with his/​her patients, I would look elsewhere.

My worst ever fear was breaking a leg or ankle because I am a dancer. Yes, it happened. I shattered my ankle. I was devastated and complaining in the emergency room about not being able to dance. The nurses were listening, and even though Dr. Gayle was not on duty, they called him in because as they said, «He is the best.» That was a stroke of luck. The ankle was very shattered, but he repaired it and it healed straight. 3 months later, back to ballroom, then ballet, and after 6 months, back to pointe. Dr. Gayle is truly amazing. He is an artist, caring, and so knowledgeable and talented. Even he didn’t think I would do pointe again. He fast tracked my recovery, and I also did many weeks of extra therapy, but without his dedication, I may have had a much different story. Thanks, Dr. Gayle. You are the best!

I have had ongoing hip problems from an injury May 2011 and I am finally following up from it. I injured the whole goin/​hip area playing soccer in May 2011 and as I saw different doctors to determine what I might have done my injury was healing up nicely. To a point where I did not really have much pain. However, I still had an MRI in my groin area to determine if there was any problem. I checked with one orthepedic who told me I should have hip arthroscopy surgery since my hip was already starting to degenerate. He said I should do this in the next 2 – 3 years otherwise it would speed up the degeneration that leads to the need for a him replacement… this really scared me.
So, I researched it some more and decided to get a second opinion and that was Dr. Gayle. We reviewed my MRI and although I had a little notch in the hip joint and a slight cyst he did not feel there was anything to warrant doing surgery. He performed a series of strength and flerxibility checks. He took the time to explain what he saw in my MRI, was very friendly, and even addressed the other doctors comments. I felt good after leaving there and would definitely recommend Dr. Gayle. I did not rate him the 5 stars for two reasons, it took 5 weeks to even get in and see him which I would have been willing to overlook since he was really good. However, I did wait about 20 minutes after my appointment time of 11:30 even though I arrived at 11:20. Not sure it was his fault, but that is the reasoning albeit not enough to stop you from seeing Dr. Gayle in my opinion.

On January 13^th, I had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in my left knee. I selected Dr Gayle based on Unilocal and other recommendations. Dr Gayle did a great job. I have the pictures to prove it ! While he was in there he cleaned up some rough edges to prevent issues in the future. I am still recovering, but I have every confidence that I will be 100% very soon. Why am I so confident? No pain !!! I have not had ANY pain since I was released. Dr Gayle did a great job.

I found Dr Gayle on Unilocal and was happy with my choice. As a kid I had seen an orthopedist a number of times for a bone condition called osteochondroma. I’ve had two surgeries to remove troublesome bone growths. Recently I was having an issue with muscle pain from swelling around another and sought help. I don’t know if he’d seen a lot of this sort but he knew what he was doing and was able to talk to me and answer my questions based on my experience. We looked at the x-​rays together (per my request), found no problems and decided I should come back soon if it hurt again or follow up in a few months. I did go back but surgery isn’t necessary, it would be elective. He recommended advil to reduce swelling.
I also want to mention the nurses. Dr Gayle said I could take my baby back to x-​ray no problem. The technicians said she couldn’t stay with me but after looking around found a nurse I’d happened to meet before who could hold my baby while I lay on the table. I really appreciated that effort.
I would return to this office if needed.

I was referred to Dr. Gayle by my primary MD who happens to work for the same organization as Dr. Gayle. I had extreme shoulder pain, which was worse at night. The MRI indicated my rotator cuff had nearly a complete tear. After speaking with Dr. Gayle and getting a second opinion, I opted for surgery in January 2011. Though it turned out that my rotator cuff was not torn, I felt that Dr. Gayle did an excellent job. Every injury is different and recoveries are not always the same. But I have a good rapport with Dr. Gayle and I believe he listens to things I might say. The bottom line is that when you choose a surgeon you want that person to be an artist. Dr. Gayle, in my opinion, is such an artist with his craft.

I joined Unilocal just to write this review. As a long time RN, having a surgeon as an ex-​husband, Dr. Gayle is the best doctor there is. Dr. Gayle did my ACL repair about six weeks post injury. I didn’t even need an MRI, I had such confidence in him with his in office testing maneuvers. Three years later, I am doing very well with my exercise activities. Dr. Gayle has the best bedside manner as well as being a highly skilled surgeon.

I blew my knee out in 2003… on Canada Day (July 4^th), really sucked. After waiting a month to get in to see an Orthopedic Surgeon, I finally got to get a diagnosis… by a non-​knee specialist (great job by my primary health care physician). Luckily, the doctor I did see felt so bad, he managed to convince Dr. Gayle to take some time with me, which impressed me from the get go. This first meeting with Dr. Gayle was a little scary, he felt the stability of my knee, and knew immediately that my ACL was no longer there, and that there was most likely some meniscus damage. He then told me the best thing to do was to get reconstructive knee surgery right away. I was a little put-​off by the fact he wasn’t recommending an MRI, but he told me he knew the ACL was gone already, and that an MRI would only confirm that, and not give any more info. The real info would come in the pre-​surgery scoping, when they assess all of the damage and what they need to do. Ok… but then the bombshell «I have an opening tomorrow morning if you’d like to take it.» That floored me. I told him I needed to think about it, asked him a few more questions, and went on my way.
The next day I researched a lot, and even gave him a call to talk about the procedure more… always impressed when I can get a doctor on the phone to talk with me, which he was willing to do.
I ended up having the procedure done the next week. He cleaned up my meniscus, put a cadaver achilles heel ligament in my knee (my new ACL), and sent me on my way. Every time I had a check up, Dr Gayle was a pleasure, not rushing with me, taking time to answer all of my questions with in depth answers. I really always appreciated his sincerity, and honesty. He also gave me pictures of the inside of my knee, and a copy of the video of the operation (through the arthroscope). It did take me a little longer to recover than he had initially promised, but these days I’m out Adventure Racing, biking and hiking countless miles thanks to his hands!
Fantastic doctor… I highly recommend him!