After more than 20 years in practice, orthopedist Michael Carter is retiring as of Wednesday, according to a news release.
 
Carter Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, located at 5220 Oleander Drive since May 2011, practice officials said. The office will transfer its patient records, including x-rays, to OrthoWilmington for custodianship, according to a news release.

Three members of his staff, a clinical medical assistant, X-ray technician and a billing representative, will join OrthoWilmington as well, according to Jennifer Loper, spokeswoman for the health care organization.

Carter, who has maintained a practice in Wilmington since 1995, served as New Hanover High School's team physician from 1997 until this year, staff members said. He chaired the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at New Hanover Regional Medical Center from 2005 to 2007 and co-chaired the Committee on Athletics for the New Hanover-Pender County Medical Society in 2014, the staff said.
 
The transfer "gives established patients of Carter Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine seamless access to OrthoWilmington’s 23 board-certified and fellowship-trained specialists, MRI imaging, and AccessOrtho, a walk-in service for convenient care," the release stated. Carter informed his patients of his retirement in a letter dated April 1.
 
“We are honored that Dr. Carter has shown confidence in our expertise by trusting us to continue to care for his patients,” OrthoWilmington CEO Stephen DeBiasi said in the release. “We wish him well in his retirement from medicine, and we warmly welcome his patients and staff to OrthoWilmington."