Dr. Thomas Gill steps down as Patriots Medical Director

via Fansided

Don't take it from me, take it from the Patriots themselves.

"After well over a decade of service with the New England Patriots, Dr. Thomas Gill has stepped down as the chief of sports medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Sports Medicine to focus on his private practice which will subsequently end his tenure as medical director with the team. We have always had the chief of sports medicine at MGH serve as the team's medical director and will continue to work with MGH to provide those services. We greatly appreciate the many years of dedicated service and innovation that Dr. Gill provided our team and wish him well in the future. We will continue to work with MGH Sports Medicine to provide our medical services and look forward to receiving the level of care and expertise that MGH has been providing the New England Patriots since our team's inception. Dr. Matt Provencher is the new chief of sports medicine at MGH and will become the team's new medical director."

Gill was a lightning rod for controversy in New England, starting with his tenure as the Red Sox team doctor. In 2010, a rift developed between outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and the team after Ellsbury felt the team (i.e. Gill) misdiagnosed his broken ribs. There were also reports that he had a "toxic" relationship with Sox trainer Mike Reinold.

He then was at the center of two controversies with the Patriots, most recently when Rob Gronkowski was reported to have trust issues with the Pats team doctor after a nightmarish offseason resulting in multiple surgeries on his broken right forearm. There were even reports that complications from Dr. Gill's surgery could compromise the integrity of the bone, leading Gronk to take his knee surgery elsewhere this offseason. Gill was also involved in the Jonathan Fanene fiasco, as the Patriots signed the defensive lineman as a free agent only to discover a degenerative knee condition in training camp that somehow went unnoticed when he took a physical prior to signing his contract. This lead to the NFLPA filing a grievance that Dr. Gill be removed as Patriots team doctor, which was dropped when the Pats and Fanene agreed on a settlement.

The following is from the Mass General bio of Gill's successor, Dr. Matt Provencher:

"Dr. Provencher is a native New Englander, having grown up in Barrington, NH. He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy where he held several leadership positions, graduated with Distinction and was the Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Graduate. He was also a 4-year Varsity Oarsman on the Naval Academy Crew Team and designated a first-team All-American for two years. Dr. Provencher earned his MD with Honors from Dartmouth Medical School where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed his residency at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, CA followed by a fellowship in Shoulder, Knee and Sports Medicine at Rush University in Chicago."