Lancaster (Pa.) NeuroScience & Spine Associates was established in 1972 and grew to include five neurosurgeons and two physiatrists, as well as five advanced practitioners. The group recently made a few changes, selling two office buildings to real estate investment company Montecito Medical for $13.5 million and signing a contract with Lancaster General Health, a Penn Medicine affiliate, to acquire their practice and ASC.
As of Jan. 1, 2019, the physicians will become employees of Lancaster General Health Physicians.
Here, Lancaster NeuroScience & Spine Associates' Christopher Kager, MD, discusses the group's decision to sell the practice and where the group is headed in the future.
Question: Lancaster Neuroscience & Spine Associates has gone through many changes over the past few months. Why did you decide to sell the office buildings, practice and ASC?
Dr. Christopher Kager: We have always had a strong relationship with Lancaster General Hospital. Our neurosurgeons hold many leadership positions in the hospital including vice chairman of surgery and division of neurosurgery chief. We cover neurosurgical trauma in their level II Trauma Center and have a contract for this. We also were partners in our outpatient surgical center. It was a natural evolution and fit for our practice to join with them in a more formal arrangement. We also were challenged with recruiting new neurosurgeons, who by and large want to be aligned with a strong center in an employed arrangement. We also had some issues with declining reimbursement and payer mix. Overall, it seemed like the right fit at the right time for LGH to buy our practice and ASC.
Because of this discussion, we began to investigate the possible sale of our two office buildings. After discussing this with LGH, we elected to use a medical real estate broker, and fairly quickly had competing offers from real estate investment companies for the buildings. This also made sense to complete the sale in a similar time frame.
Q: What changes will there be for you as a surgeon post-sale? How will these changes benefit you and your patients?
CK: We will be employed surgeons through Lancaster General Health Physicians. There is certainly some overall stability due to this. We expect to recruit another surgeon fairly quickly to begin next July. Our physiatry and pain management services will complement the current providers of LGH.
On a day-to-day basis, we do not expect there will be any significant changes for the physicians, advanced practitioners, or employees, nor for the patients we serve.
Q: What is next for you and your practice? What are you excited about for the future?
CK: We fully expect to continue to grow and remain the preeminent neurosurgical and physiatry providers in Lancaster and Central Pennsylvania. We will continue to take an active leadership role in the hospital, and continue to grow the neuroscience service line through our partnership with LGH and Penn Medicine.
We have already begun new initiatives in spine and neurosurgery looking at enhanced recovery after surgery, clinical care pathways, and financial initiatives.
As a neurosurgical group, we already had a strong relationship with the neurosurgeons at the University of Pennsylvania, and we had been members of the Penn Specialty Network.
We also can focus primarily on patient care and outcomes without the concerns of practice management and finance.