Dr. Larry O’Connell, who grew up in the Seattle area, has been with Academy Women’s Healthcare Associates since 1998. He has brought a great mix of clinical and surgical experience to AWHA. He has enjoyed outside employment as an instructor for laparoscopic and robotic surgical techniques. Dr. O’Connell completed his undergraduate work at Washington State University (1983) and his medical degree at University of Nebraska College of Medicine (1993, magna cum laude), where he was co-valedictorian. He completed his obstetrics and gynecology residency in the U.S. Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base.
With few exceptions, pregnancy and birth are happy times for each patient. Dr. O’Connell enjoys playing a part in this memorable occasion in the patient’s life and interacting with the family. He particularly enjoys being part of the Colorado Springs community and loves that his children are going to school and playing sports with the same children that he helped bring into the world. He is experienced in caring for women of every age, from teens through menopause. He values establishing long-term patient and family relationships. He and his family—wife Beverly and children Colt, Hannah, and Luke, enjoy outdoor life in Colorado: fly-fishing, hiking, camping, skiing, and horseback riding. His oldest child is now in college and the younger two attend Discovery Canyon Campus, in District 20.
Dr. O’Connell has made a long-term commitment to missions for orphans and widowed moms in Uganda, east Africa. Since 2003 he has traveled yearly to East Africa. He and others have just finished building a surgery center in the Northern Uganda city of Lira. Reflecting on those experiences, he is particularly excited about the number of young adults who traveled with him and are now practicing in a number of medical fields. He hopes that they and his children have learned by first-hand experience how they can use their skills and vocations to serve and impact the lives of others.
Dr. O’Connell has enjoyed the opportunities to serve on a number of international and local non-profit Board of Directors. In El Paso County he has served both Life Network and Young Life.