
Redesigning care, with your safety top of mind.
Hospitals and medical offices are now permitted to see patients for all types of care, including elective surgery. We have been working hard to ensure that the hospital and physicians' practices are ready for you. Please call your provider or login to MyChart to schedule an in-person or telehealth video visit today!
Keeping You Safe
Hospitals and medical offices are now permitted to see patients for all types of care, including elective surgery. We have been working hard to ensure that the hospital and physicians' practices are ready for you. We have redesigned the way we provide care with your safety in mind.We will continue to offer telehealth video visits for anyone who prefers that option. However, we want to reassure you that we are taking the necessary steps to protect your safety when you need to come to the hospital, a primary care office, or one of our specialty practices.
Some of the measures GBMC Health Partners is taking to protect patients include:
- GBMC Health Partners is seeing patients in person and via telehealth video visits. Using video visits allows you to talk with your doctor without leaving home. This reduces the number of patients coming through the office and decreases the potential for inadvertent exposure of patients and staff to COVID-19. Thus, in-person visits can be done safely for those who need them. We encourage you to utilize MyChart for your telehealth needs, and you can also call your doctor if you need help. We are ready to assist you.
- Extensive cleaning of all work spaces and patient areas is performed between encounters and throughout the day.
- Temperature screening stations are in place at hospital entrances and in our practices. All patients, providers, and staff members have their temperature checked upon arrival and must wear masks (along with other appropriate personal protective equipment "PPE" if necessary).
- All patients are asked COVID-19 screening questions when they make their appointment and again when they arrive. Patients are given specific appointment times to limit the number of people in the offices at one time, and are kept in private exam rooms during their visits.
- To allow for safe distancing, our office hours may be adjusted during this time, and offices themselves have been rearranged. In certain locations, there may be physical barriers in place, and in some cases, family members may be asked to wait in their vehicles. A family member or friend may accompany a patient if it is medically necessary for the patient, or if the patient is a minor.
- All surgical patients are tested for COVID-19 pre-operatively.
- COVID-19 positive patients and patients under investigation (PUIs) who require hospital admission are sequestered in the hospital. Outpatients who are COVID-19 positive or PUIs are encouraged to utilize telehealth video visits to determine whether in-person care is needed.
Finney Trimble Surgical Associates - Serving Baltimore for generations
The physicians of GBMC's Division of General Surgery strive to improve patient safety and satisfaction by performing the most appropriate surgical procedures using the least invasive techniques possible. This philosophy is facilitated by the availability of four surgical suites featuring fully integrated, high-definition equipment which allows seamless incorporation of minimally invasive laparoscopic, thoracoscopic, flexible endoscopic, robotic, radiologic, and endovascular techniques. Sophisticated video equipment makes these technologies available in any operating room on the GBMC campus.
Many of the surgeons at GBMC are fellowship trained in minimally invasive surgery and flexible endoscopy. Nearly every major general surgical procedure can be performed at GBMC.
GBMC's Division of General Surgery also proudly participates in the American College of Surgeons' National Surgery Quality Improvement Program. This national program is the only one of its kind in the country that measures surgical patient outcomes and provides hospitals with quality improvement tools.
Our Team

John L. Flowers, MD, FACS
Chairman, Department of Surgery
General Surgery

John L. Flowers, MD, FACS
Chairman, Department of Surgery
General Surgery

Francis S. Rotolo, MD
Division Head, General Surgery
General Surgery & Breast Surgery

Francis S. Rotolo, MD
Division Head, General Surgery
General Surgery & Breast Surgery

Joel A. Turner, MD
Vice Chair, Department of Surgery
General Surgery

Joel A. Turner, MD
Vice Chair, Department of Surgery
General Surgery

Shauna M. Costinett, MD
General Surgery

Shauna M. Costinett, MD
General Surgery

Timothee J. Friesen, MD
General Surgery & Bariatric Surgery

Timothee J. Friesen, MD
General Surgery & Bariatric Surgery

Laurence H. Ross, MD
General Surgery

Laurence H. Ross, MD
General Surgery
Our Services
We offer a wide variety of services including:
- Endocrine Surgery
- Laparoscopic Surgery
- General Surgery
- Vascular Surgery
- Breast Surgery
Endocrine
- Thyroidectomy
- Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy
- Full parathyroid exploration
- Laparoscopic adrenalectomy
Laparoscopic
- Cholecystectomy (gallbladder)
- Nissen fundoplication (antireflux procedure)
- Hiatal hernia repair
- Heller myotomy (treatment of achalasia)
- Splenectomy
- Adrenalectomy
- Colectomy
- Appendectomy
- Hernia repair
- Peritoneal dialysis catheter placement
General Surgery
- Melanoma excision
- Inguinal hernia repair
- Umbilical hernia repair
- Lipoma excision
- Complex abdominal wall reconstruction
- Colectomy
- Hemorrhoidectomy
- Hemorrhoid banding
Vascular Surgery
- Carotid endarterectomy
- Open aortic aneurysm repair
- Lower extremity bypass
- Varicose vein surgery
- Dialysis access
- Subclavian bypass
- Upper extremity bypass
- Arteriovenous/fistula graft creation and angioplasty
- Aorto-iliac bypass
- Mesenteric vascular reconstruction
- Arterial Doppler/pvr lower extremities
- Arterial Doppler/pvr upper extremities
Breast Surgery
- Lumpectomy
- Mastectomy
- Sentinel lymph node dissection
- Full axillary dissection
- Melanoma excision

Rare Surgery is No Match for Skilled Surgeon'
“I had horrible pain in my chest that extended into my shoulders. I knew it had to be related to the hernia,” Ms. Frank notes, adding that this was the worst her symptoms had ever been.
Read MorePatient Information
Please print the following forms out at your convenience. Fill the forms out carefully and completely and bring them with you for your 1st appointment.
New Patient Forms
Referrals
Recent Stories | Video | In the Media

GBMC Achieves the Prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Awards
Passing of a Legend: Robert Bond Welch, MD
Supporting Excellence
COVID-19 Vaccine: What You Need to Know
Supporting Excellence
Record Number of Employees Awarded Scholarships for Continuing Education
Supporting Excellence
March 4: COVID-19 Update with President and CEO, John. B. Chessare, MD, MPH
COVID-19
A Special Conversation with Dr. Freeman Hrabowski and Mrs. Jacqueline Hrabowski
Around GBMC
February 18: COVID-19 Update with President and CEO, John B. Chessare, MD, MPH
COVID-19
Midday Maryland - Mask Wearing and Hearing Impairment
Healthy Tips
OPINION: The Deafening Silence of the NFL, Their Players, and Domestic Violence
Family Focus
February 4: COVID-19 Update with President and CEO, John B. Chessare, MD, MPH
COVID-19
What You Need to Know About the COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19
GBMC's COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
COVID-19
Discussing the Impacts of COVID-19 on Children
COVID-19
Treating and Defeating COVID-19
COVID-19
What Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine is Like
COVID-19
Midday Maryland - Cervical Cancer
Healthy Tips
January 21: COVID-19 Update with President and CEO, John B. Chessare, MD, MPH
COVID-19
"What's Up, Dr. Dovec?" - Meet JoAnn Ioannou, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC
Around GBMC
"What's Up, Dr. Dovec?" - Meet Dr. Diana Whitehead, discussing Gastroenterology at GBMC
Around GBMC
"What's Up, Dr. Dovec?" - Meet Michael Asike, MD, Gastroenterologist
Around GBMC