About Dr Ward

Dr. Steven Ward is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon practicing in Tucson and Oro Valley. Patients often wonder how he arrived at this work — and why he approaches care the way he does. This is that story.

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Growing up and finding the operating room

Dr. Ward grew up in Roy, Utah. His path into medicine did not begin in a lecture hall with a white coat. It began on the floor of the operating room.

He earned his undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Utah, but before that — and alongside it — he worked his way up through the surgical suite. He began as an orderly, then became a surgical scrub technician, and eventually a registered nurse. Those years were not a detour. They were the foundation.

Working as support staff teaches lessons that are hard to learn from textbooks alone: how a room runs when it is busy, how small details protect patients, how much every person on the team matters, and how frightening surgery can feel from the patient’s side of the table. Dr. Ward still carries that perspective into clinic and into the OR every day. When he works with nurses, technicians, schedulers, and physician assistants, he is not guessing what their day looks like — he has lived versions of those roles himself.

Becoming a surgeon

Dr. Steven Ward during orthopedic residency training in the operating room — During orthopedic residency training — an action shot from the OR.

That early experience fueled a long-standing pull toward surgery and hands-on care. Dr. Ward went on to medical school at Touro University Nevada in Las Vegas, then completed orthopedic surgery residency in Erie, Pennsylvania (Millcreek Hospital), where he built deeper experience in joint replacement and orthopedic trauma, including complex reconstructive work.

Orthopedics appealed to him because the goal is concrete: help someone move better, hurt less, and return to the life they want. Sometimes that means surgery. Often it means listening carefully, explaining options clearly, and choosing a non-operative path first when that is the smarter fit.

Army medicine in Alaska

Dr. Steven Ward in U.S. Army combat uniform during his military service

Dr. Ward during his service as an orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. Army.

After residency, Dr. Ward served as an orthopedic surgeon in the United States Army at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. There he cared for active-duty Army and Air Force personnel, their families, retirees, and Veterans Affairs patients.

Military medicine is demanding and multidisciplinary. It requires decisions under pressure, coordination across teams, and care for people who need to return to duty — or simply to walking without pain. That chapter shaped how he thinks about trust, clarity, and follow-through.

Home in Tucson

Operating room during a hip replacement with DePuy Actis instruments — In the OR during a hip replacement.

In 2022, Dr. Ward relocated to Tucson with his wife and two daughters. Arizona has become home — and Northwest Bone & Joint at La Cholla and Oro Valley has become the place where he practices the kind of orthopedic care he believes in.

He is a general orthopedic surgeon with particular focus areas that include:

Joint replacement — hip (including anterior approaches), knee, and shoulder, including revision surgery when needed
Sports medicine — shoulder, knee, and ankle arthroscopy; rotator cuff and ligament work
Trauma and fractures — from everyday injuries to more complex fractures that need timely fixation
Hand and smaller procedures — common problems such as carpal tunnel, trigger finger, and related issues

In clinic, his team also spends substantial time on non-surgical care: injections, bracing, physical therapy coordination, casting and splinting, and on-site X-rays so patients can move from answer to plan without unnecessary delay.

How he thinks about care

Dr. Ward’s treatment philosophy is simple to say and important to practice: he does not treat the X-ray or the MRI — he uses them as tools to treat the whole person.

Every patient is unique. Two people can have similar imaging and very different goals, pain levels, work demands, and risk tolerance. He listens first — carefully — to symptoms, history, and what “better” means for that individual. Then he builds a plan that fits their life, not a one-size-fits-all pathway.

The most rewarding part of the work, he has said, is watching someone move from pain or injury toward better function and less pain — whether that happens with surgery, an injection and therapy, or a careful period of protected recovery. Shared decision-making matters to him. He wants patients to understand their options well enough to choose with confidence.

He is also intentional about how the team works. Olivia Sobojinski, PA, has been with him from early in her career and mirrors a thorough, patient-first approach. Gabby Ventura, PA, brings the same commitment to clear education and whole-person care. Kayleena Rosier, LPN, and Alison Guerra, MA, help patients feel supported with day-to-day details — dressings, casts, scheduling, paperwork, and questions that come up between visits. Good orthopedic care is a team sport.

What a year of surgery looks like

Patients sometimes ask, “Have you done this before?” Experience matters, and Dr. Ward is transparent about volume. In 2025 alone, he performed 1,004 surgeries, including large numbers of hip replacements, knee replacements (total and partial), shoulder and knee arthroscopy, fracture care, and procedures of the elbow, hand, and foot and ankle — along with many more cases that do not fit neatly on a highlight list.

Numbers are not the whole story. Outcomes, communication, and follow-through are. But volume does mean the practice sees a wide range of problems regularly, and builds systems — packets, therapy partners, and clinic routines — so patients are not left guessing what comes next.

Outside the clinic

Dr. Steven Ward and his wife Shawna golfing — Dr. Ward and his wife, Shawna, out on the course.

Dr. Steven Ward with his family at a University of Utah football game — With family at a University of Utah football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Away from medicine, golf is a big part of Dr. Ward’s life. He is a member at Dove Mountain and plays regularly on the weekends with his wife, Shawna. He has worked his game down to a handicap as low as 2 — and he still enjoys the challenge of getting better.

Traveling with his wife and two daughters — and cheering on the Utes — rounds out time away from clinic. Those parts of life matter personally — and they are a reminder of why patients want their joints and tendons working again: so they can keep doing what they love.

If you are considering care

Whether someone is dealing with arthritis, a sports injury, a fracture, or lingering pain that has not been explained well, the goal is the same: clear answers, a plan tailored to the person, and care that respects both the science and the individual in the room.