Dr. David LaPorta Appointed Section Chief at Monmouth Medical Center

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Long Branch – Dr. David LaPorta, an Oceanport resident, has been appointed to two key positions at Monmouth Medical Center. He is now the Section Chief, Division of Podiatric Surgery in the Department of Surgery and is also the Medical Director of the Restorix Wound Treatment Center.

LaPorta is a graduate of Shore Regional High School and the University of Delaware, where he earned a degree in biological sciences with a concentration in cellular and molecular biology. He then traveled to Ohio where he completed his surgical residency at the Cleveland Foot & Ankle Clinic and Mount Sinai Hospital in Cleveland.

“While I was in Cleveland, I served as the chief surgical resident and later as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine,” said LaPorta. He later achieved the position of Director of Residency Education, where he instructed students and residents.

I have personally known LaPorta since our days together at Shore Regional. After years of competing in karate on a national and international level, my feet took a pounding. I went and visited LaPorta who told me that I suffered from a severely arthritic big toe. If you have ever experienced foot pain, you knew that putting a shoe on, or even walking short distances was going to be excruciating. I knew LaPorta was the doctor to see.

He performed a thorough examination, and explained that with a minimal incision, he could repair my toe and I would be back in comfortable shoes in just a few days. Normally, I would be skeptical of such claims, but knowing LaPorta for nearly all my life, I knew he was being honest. The surgery was quick, and the recovery was just as he promised, fast and painless. In fact, after seeing how quickly LaPorta had corrected my foot issues, my wife, Patricia Booth-O’Neill, made an appointment to have her foot condition corrected.

One of LaPorta’s biggest passions is the Wound Treatment Center at Monmouth Medical Center. “We have a select team of general and vascular surgeons, who oversee patient care. We also have infectious disease specialists, podiatrists and hospitalists,” said LaPorta. As one of the very few who specialize in diabetic foot issues in the nation, LaPorta performs same day minimal incisions, and uses a stitche technique to quickly heal diabetic foot wounds to prevent infections or possible amputations.

His knowledge and expertise in this area is well renowned. LaPorta has lectured nationally on foot and ankle disorders and authored textbook chapters and journal articles.

It seems that medical gene and desire to help others was something that was imbedded in LaPorta since birth. His father, Dr. Michael LaPorta, was Chief of Anesthesiology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. While he was there, he created the Nurse Anesthetist Program.

David’s older brother, Dr. Mark LaPorta, completed his internship in internal medicine at Monmouth Medical Center and has established a busy practice in Miami Beach, Florida. And the gene is being passed down into a new generation, as David’s daughter Tori ODor, is a labor and delivery room nurse at Monmouth Medical Center.

Dr. David LaPorta has a private practice in Long Branch, located at 232 Norwood Ave., Suite 101.