Two Harvard University business graduates founded Westchester, Ill.- based Regent Surgical Health in 2001. With more than a decade experience under its belt, Regent has grown into one of the leading privately-held ASC management and development companies in the country.
Here are 10 things to know.
1. Regent develops, manages and owns 23 ASCs across the United States and Europe. Of those centers, 17 are joint ventures and nine perform outpatient total joint replacement.
2. Harvard University graduates Thomas Mallon and W. Michael Karnes founded Regent. Mr. Mallon previously served as Regent's CEO before stepping down in June 2016. He remains chairman of the board. Mr. Karnes holds a position on the board.
3. Chris Bishop is currently Regent's CEO. Mr. Bishop manages the company's daily operations along with Regent's worldwide partnerships. Joining Regent in 2015 as president, Mr. Bishop's focuses on developing and executing strategies to drive Regent's growth. He came to Regent after working for several ASC development companies including Hanover, Mass.-based Ambulatory Surgery Centers of America.
4. Regent has a 19-person executive team including:
- Jeffrey Simmons, Chief Development Officer. Mr. Simmons oversees Regent's acquisition and development efforts. He has 25 years experience in the healthcare industry. Before joining Regent, Mr. Simmons was the vice president of marketing for American Medical International, where he headed business development for 18 hospitals.
- Joyce Thomas, RN, Interim COO. Ms. Thomas has more than 35 years healthcare industry experience. She is a past executive director of Loveland (Colo.) Surgery Center.
- Matt Lau, CFO. Mr. Lau has more than 20 years finance and account experience. Before joining Regent he worked as a senior financial analyst.
5. Since Regent's inception, it has largely focused on de novo centers. It has developed 18 de novo centers in sum, taking a minority ownership share in each of them.
6. The company believes in leveraging capital and management experience to create ASCs that benefit both patients and providers. Specifically Regent employs the RISE approach. RISE stands for: Respectful Caring, Integrity, Stewardship and Efficiency.
By applying "RISE culture" throughout its facilities Regent has made noticeable changes including lowering nursing attrition rates and increasing patient satisfaction.
7. Regent awards RISE recognition awards to employees that have embraced its core values. To date, more than 60 employees have received the recognition. Continuing that outreach, Regent began awarding scholarships to students that exemplified RISE values in their everyday life. In 2011, Regent awarded scholarships to four employees' children.
8. Regent is currently working on plans for an ASC in Beaverton, Ore. Oregon Surgical Institute is a 15,000 square-foot center specializing in outpatient total joint replacement. The center will be among the first in the state to offer outpatient total joint replacement. Rahul Desai, MD, is one of the centers affiliated owners. Dr. Desai is a fellowship-trained musculoskeletal and spinal interventional radiologist.
9. Regent opened a new center on Feb. 2, 2017. A joint venture between Midland-based MidMichigan Health, 11 local physicians and Regent, the Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center is the first in Michigan's Isabella County. The center features one operating room and two procedure rooms, with the capacity to expand to four ORs. The center specializes in spine surgery, pain management, urology, gynecology, general surgery, ear, nose and throat and orthopedics. It anticipates offering outpatient total joint procedures by the end of 2017.
10. Regent recently bolstered its revenue cycle management services side by adding Lorena Madrigal and Ivette Gomez to its team in October 2016. Ms. Madrigal is responsible for a Regent center in the Pacific Northwest, while Ms. Gomez is responsible for a center in the Southeast.
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