Dr. Dr. Usha Kolpe

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Get to know Anesthesiologist Dr. Usha Kolpe, who serves patients in Hines, Illinois.

As a practicing, board certified anesthesiologist, Dr. Kolpe currently serves as the Director of Anesthesia at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois.

Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, located 12 miles west of downtown Chicago on a 147-acre campus, offers primary, extended and specialty care and serves as a tertiary care referral center for VISN 12. Specialized clinical programs include Blind Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord Injury, Neurosurgery, Radiation Therapy, and Cardiovascular Surgery.  The hospital also serves as the VISN 12 southern tier hub for pathology, radiology, radiation therapy, human resource management, and fiscal services.

Dr. Kolpe started off as a surgeon in India, earning her medical degree from Mysore Medical College & Research Institute. However, once she moved to the United States, her certificate was not accepted. She was forced to return to medical school and earn her certificate once again. During this process, she realized that balancing work and her family was becoming difficult as a surgeon. She wanted to be able to spend more time with her children and husband as well. Since she was given the opportunity to redo a part of her education, she saw this as an opportunity to change her specialization.

She had been interested in the field of anesthesiology due to the fact that she interacted with many of them as a surgeon. Dr. Kolpe took this new start to her advantage and decided to start her journey to becoming an anesthesiologist. She completed her residency in anesthesiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. 

Following her training, the doctor became board-certified in anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology, whose mission is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology. 

Anesthesiology is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during, and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine. Anesthesiologists have the primary responsibility of monitoring the patient’s vital signs during surgery. In addition to basic measurements such as pulse, blood pressure and temperature, anesthesiologists also measure the patient’s respiration.

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