The Bone & Joint Center, Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center and Saratoga Hospital have opened a $19.1 million surgery center in Malta, N.Y., specializing in spine and orthopedic surgeries, according to the Albany Business Review.
The Center for Advanced Ambulatory Surgery, which opened in September, includes six surgical suites, eight preoperative bays and eight postoperative areas. Surgeons have access to the Rosa robot for knee replacement and Hana surgery tables for hip replacement.
Adjacent to the facility is a 60,000-square-foot building that houses Malta Med Emergent Care, an Albany Med and Saratoga Hospital joint venture that provides imaging, lab tests and other preoperative services. Postoperative rehab is also offered in the building through one of Saratoga Hospital's regional therapy centers
In designing the ASC, Jared Roberts, MD, the facility's medical director, visited surgery centers in nearby cities and found that private practices have typically failed to form similar surgery center-hospital partnerships, according to the report.
"There's no other that's like this in the country that I am aware of, that has a relationship that's a true partnership with a hospital system and connected to a 24-hour emergent care," Dr. Roberts told the publication.
The Albany-based Bone & Joint Center sees the hybrid partnership and its proximity to the emergent care facility as a way of capitalizing on outpatient migration leading to a more seamless transition between inpatient and outpatient care.
"We thought we were far better off being partners than competitors with the local hospitals," said David Quinn, MD, an upper extremity surgeon at the practice.