Hip Surgeon Joel M. Matta, M.D., Retires from Surgical Practice at The Steadman Clinic
Noted Hip Disorders Specialist Completes a 45-Year Surgical Career, Including the Last Eight at The Steadman Clinic
VAIL, Colorado, Oct. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Globally respected hip surgeon and founder of the Anterior Hip Foundation Joel M. Matta, M.D., retired from his surgical career on July 31 and his clinical practice on September 30. Dr. Matta’s 45-year career in surgery included the past eight years at The Steadman Clinic following his move to Vail in 2017.
“I’ve been doing surgeries for the past four decades, and I just think it is time to retire from that part of my life,” said Dr. Matta. “I want to thank Dr. (Marc) Philippon and the entire team here at The Steadman Clinic for allowing me to join them eight years ago and finish my years as a surgeon at one of the elite clinics in the world.”
“Dr. Matta has been a critical part of our orthopaedic team here at The Steadman Clinic,” said Marc J. Philippon, M.D., managing partner of The Steadman Clinic and chairman of Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI). “Eight years ago we had the opportunity to add one of the world’s preeminent hip specialists to our team and he has made The Steadman Clinic stronger during his time here in Vail.
“I want to congratulate Dr. Matta on his incredible career as a surgeon and wish him good luck and success as he continues in his role as a consultant and travels the world as a featured speaker at medical and orthopaedic conferences in the coming years,” continued Dr. Philippon.
Dr. Matta’s long career was focused in southern California for many years before he made the move to The Steadman Clinic. A faculty member at University of Southern California in the early 1980s, he moved to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles in 1990 where he started a fellowship program that he eventually brought with him to Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2006 and to The Steadman Clinic 11 years later.
“I started the fellowship in Los Angeles at around the same time frame that Dr. (J. Richard) Steadman initiated his fellows program at The Steadman Clinic,” remembered Dr. Matta. “It was a real tribute to the success of our program at Good Samaritan and Saint John’s that in 2017 we were able to add our fellows program to the enormously successful one at The Steadman Clinic.”
In addition to his years of education and residency in California, Dr. Matta trained with Dr. Emile Letournel, a French orthopaedist who gained the reputation as one of the finest acetabular and hip surgeons in the world. Dr. Matta served as the director of the Emile Letournel Institute in 1995. He spent significant time in both Paris and in Switzerland and established himself as one of the world’s leading hip and pelvic specialists.
At The Steadman Clinic, Dr. Matta’s work has focused on three primary areas – trauma, hip preservation surgery and his specialty – the anterior approach hip replacement.
“When Dr. Philippon recruited me to The Steadman Clinic, I wanted to continue my practice and serve at a place where I could establish some legacy, and hopefully have some younger, yet established doctors taking over for me when I retired,” said Dr. Matta. “I feel that we have that in place with Dr. Joseph Ruzbarsky and Dr. Ali Noorzad working alongside Dr. Philippon with our hip patients.”
The Matta-Philippon personal and professional relationship goes back to years before their time together at The Steadman Clinic.
The two noted hip specialists often found themselves speaking at the same conferences and trading notes on their most recent and successful surgical techniques.
“During the period of time that I was in Santa Monica, I would refer patients that needed hip arthroscopy to Dr. Philippon, which was his area of expertise,” recalled Dr. Matta. “In turn, he would send some patients from Vail to Santa Monica for the two surgeries that I specialized in -- periacetabular osteotomy and anterior approach hip replacement.
“We would have conversations on the phone about how we should work together,” continued Dr. Matta. “And I'd tell him he should come out to Santa Monica, and he would tell me I should come to Vail. Finally, I came out and looked at the situation with Marc and the rest of the talented staff at The Steadman Clinic. It took six months or so to work out the details, but I made a decision to come work in Vail, and I am very happy with that decision.
“As far as the support from clinic personnel, the clinic’s organization, personalized service of the clinic, the SPRI research labs associated with it -- It was a perfect fit for me,” said Dr. Matta.
Dr. Matta is certainly proud of his accomplishments and how he has been able to help patients through advanced technology during the years he has practiced.
“First of all, I have to think back to my goal of making positive impact on patients,” noted Dr. Matta. “That is any medical practitioner’s primary purpose. But I've also done a fair amount to develop surgical techniques and new surgical technologies.”
Dr. Matta designed the Hana surgical table which is considered the gold standard for patient positioning in fracture and hip procedures.
“For the number of years that I've been doing surgeries, I've had my hand in creating almost everything I use in the operating room,” said Dr. Matta. “If I'm doing anterior hip replacement, we're operating on a table I designed. And we're using instruments I designed. We're often putting in an artificial hip that I was a lead designer on. We're using X-ray software that was created by the company with whom I worked. I’ve literally and figuratively had my hands and my influence on so many aspects of the surgery process and that is something that makes me proud.”
What lies ahead for Dr. Matta in his post-surgical years?
“The education part of my career has always been important to me and I will continue to do things with that in mind,” said Dr. Matta. “I hope that the hip preservation fellowship will continue at The Steadman Clinic as it has been so successful since its inception over the past 35 years. The fellowship is really great because I've got past fellows working in this industry all over the world, including several that have become chairs of their university departments. One of my past fellows became president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), which is a tremendous honor.”
Dr. Matta plans to continue educating surgeons and clinicians by maintaining a busy and productive speaking schedule.
“I've done a lot of surgeon education, beginning in the 1980s,” said Dr. Matta. “I may have the record for time spent standing over cadavers with young surgeons teaching them how to do surgery. I've done that for 40 years. And I'm going to continue teaching and educating when I can. I've got meetings and speaking engagements coming up in Chicago, Brazil, Turkey and Switzerland, all within the next six months.”
Dr. Matta may be retiring from the operating room, but the world of hip preservation is certainly not losing him.
For further information, contact Jaci Brown (jabrown@ocpmgmt.com).
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Jaci Brown Orthopedic Care Partners jabrown@ocpmgmt.com
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