10 ASCs That Opened in 2009

Here are profiles of 10 ASCs that opened in 2009. Note: Facilities are listed alphabetically by state.

Stockton Surgery Center (Stockton, Calif.). The 12,000 square-foot Stockton (Calif.) Surgery Center opened in April and is part of the Sutter Gould Medical Foundation network. The ASC features three operating rooms and two procedure rooms, a six-bed pre-op area and a 14-bed recovery area. General surgery, gynecology, orthopedics, pain management, urology and vascular surgery procedures are performed at the center. Around 600 cases will be performed at Stockton by the end of 2009.

Since the center opened, Stockton has become licensed, accredited and Medicare certified, according to Bill Davis, vice president of ambulatory surgery for Sutter Health. "[By receiving accreditations on schedule], this has allowed for the timely delivery of our outpatient surgical specialties," he says.

Mr. Davis expects Stockton to continue to expand and to grow, while providing quality outpatient surgical services to its community.

Children's North Surgery Center (Broomfield, Colo.). Children's North Surgery Center opened in June and is a joint venture between physicians from University Physicians in Aurora, Colo., community physicians and dentists and The Children's Hospital in Broomfield, Colo. The surgery center has three operating rooms, with the capacity to expand to four. Surgeons will perform ENT, gastroenterology, general surgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, urology, dentistry and plastic and reconstructive surgery procedures. Pinnacle III handles day-to-day management of the center as well coding, billing and collection services.

"We are very proud of the new center. The scope of the services is unique for pediatrics," says Bob Estes, vice president of operations for Pinnacle III. According to Mr. Estes, the surgery center will provide service to children and young adults from six months to 25 years old.

Since it opened, Children's North Surgery Center has received accreditation from The Joint Commission and CMS. "Prior to July 2009, dental procedures were not approved procedures for Medicaid patients in Colorado in an ASC," Mr. Estes says. "Working in coordination with the Colorado Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, Pinnacle III initiated discussions early in the development and was able to gain approval."

Mr. Estes says Children's North Surgery Center is hoping to attract providers and patients in northern Colorado by establishing an ASC that is designed and staffed for the specific needs of children and young adults.

St. Vincent's Medical Center Ambulatory Surgery Center (Bridgeport, Conn.). The $10.5 million Ambulatory Surgery Center at St. Vincent's Medical Center opened in March, replacing the former medical suite used at the hospital. The 13,500 square-foot center includes four state-of-the-art operating rooms, an expanded procedure room, a 12-bed PACU recovery suite and a cystoscopy room for urology procedures. In 2008, St. Vincent's performed around 5,000 outpatient procedures, and the number is expected to be similar in 2009.

According to Brooke Karlsen, RN, MSN, director of surgical services for St. Vincent's, the new center has helped to improve patient satisfaction. "We moved from our old facility, which was a retrofitted labor and delivery department and was a tight and small space," she says. "Now we have ample space in a clean, bright environment. We saw a jump in patient satisfaction due to our facilities. Our nurse and surgeon satisfaction was always high, but now patients comment on the cleanliness of the new facility."

Ms. Karlsen notes that the ASC at St. Vincent's is poised for the future, although no real expansions plans are in the works. "Our cardiac and interventional radiology departments are adjacent to the ASC. The trend in these areas are towards more outpatient procedures, so as things change, we can bring them into the department."

East Surgery Center of Coastal Orthopedic & Pain Management (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.). The 10,000 square-foot East Surgery Center of Coastal Orthopedic & Pain Management opened in May and provides orthopedic and pain management procedures. The surgery center is part of Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, an 11-physician practice in Bradenton, Fla. Cindy Brennan is the director of surgery centers for Coastal Orthopedics.

Spivey Station Surgery Center (Jonesboro, Ga.). Spivey Station Surgery Center in Jonesboro, Ga., opened in April as a replacement for the existing Surgery Center at Mt. Zion in Marrow, Ga. Spivey Station is a joint venture with Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Ga., and several physicians. Surgeons at the center perform procedures in seven specialties: otolaryngology, pain management, podiatry, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, urology and gynecology. More than 5,000 procedures will be performed at the center annually.

The new Spivey Station Surgery Center features state-of-the-art technology that goes beyond the everyday surgery center including a telesurgery room, updated electronic medical record system, patient gowns that warm themselves, a complimentary business center for waiting family members, interactive games for kids and an in-house prescription dispenser. Melody Mena serves as administrator of Spivey Station.

Windward Surgery Center (Kailua, Hawaii). The $5.3 million Windward Surgery Center opened in April and is a joint venture between Castle Medical Center, 15 Windward Oahu surgeons and Health Inventures. The center is located on two floors of the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Medical Plaza and Wellness Center in Kailua, Hawaii, and consists of two operating rooms, two endoscopy rooms and waiting and recovery rooms. Windward will offer orthopedics, gynecology, urology, general surgery, ophthalmology, gynecology and podiatry procedures and screenings.

Windward began seeing patients in June, 2009, beginning with mostly gastroenterology and orthopedic cases, but has since expanded to include its other surgical specialties. According to a news release from the center, Windward has already surpassed its forecasted number of cases for 2009, due to a well-planned facility and strong support from the community.

Pend Oreille Surgery Center (Ponderay, Idaho). Pend Oreille Surgery Center is a freestanding, privately-owned ASC located in Ponderay, Idaho, which opened in May. The center performs procedures in general, orthopedic, podiatric and plastic surgery in addition to endoscopy and interventional pain management.

Kris Sabo, executive director of Pend Oreille, says that the surgery center has completed many goals since it opened. "We have hired and trained an excellent clinical and business office staff who had very little previous experience in the ASC industry," she says. "Our patient satisfaction surveys have been outstanding with some wonderful comments regarding the comfort of our center and our exceptional staff. Additionally, we have already received our AAAHC accreditation. No easy task for a novice center!"

Ms. Sabo says that Pend Oreille has plans for increasing the volume at the center over the next year and for opening its third operating room. The center also expects to receive CMS certification soon and to add additional providers from the community.

Billings Clinic Surgery Center (Billings, Mont.). The Billings (Mont.) Clinic Surgery Center opened in February, and the 29,000 square-foot center houses six operating rooms, with two shelled for further expansion, 14 pre-op areas and a recovery area including 10 beds for recovery immediately following surgery and another 14 areas for the remainder of the recovery stay. Physicians will perform procedures in several specialty areas including orthopedics and sports medicine, gynecology, ophthalmology, urology, general surgery, ENT and podiatry.

Barbara Ward, director of the Billings Clinic Surgery Center, says that getting a team together with a wealth of experience in patient care and the operating room was crucial to a successful opening. "This team worked together to get every area set to start cases on Feb. 10. There were some challenges that were faced during that time that had to be overcome, and the biggest one was not having all of the equipment and supplies here. Everyone pulled together, and items were borrowed from the main operating room to achieve the goal. The transition was fairly seamless, given the fact that we also had a brand new computerized documentation system as well," she says.

Ms. Ward says that the staff at Billings Clinic Surgery Center hope to expand on the specialties currently at the center by increasing volume and becoming more efficient in the cases that are currently performed at the center. "This will be a year of growth for us, but we anticipate that we will do around 7,000 cases by the end of the year," she says.

Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center (Kingston, N.Y.). Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center opened in February and offers services in reproduction, gynecology, ophthalmology, urology, podiatry and general surgery. The 5,023-square-foot building is located near the Kingston (N.Y.) Hospital and includes two operating rooms, a waiting/reception area, three preparation areas, a nurse station and two changing rooms.

The University of Rochester Medical Center Surgery Center (Rochester, N.Y.). The 80,000 square-foot University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center Surgery Center opened its doors in August and is one of the largest hospital-affiliated ASCs in upstate New York. The surgery center's first floor includes 52,000 square feet devoted to patient care, including 10 operating and three procedures rooms, 43 private pre- and post-anesthesia cubicles, 10 post-anesthesia bays, a pharmacy and facilities for sterile equipment processing. The second floor will be devoted to administration and staff needs, it houses URMC's Pain Treatment Center and division of colorectal surgery and will house the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy Center, scheduled to open in Jan. 2010

Orthopedic surgeon Michael Maloney, MD, serves as medical director of the URMC Surgery Center. "Outpatient surgical centers have defined a new standard of care that patients have come to expect," he said in an URMC news release. "We are adopting that model to optimize care and service for patients. Because we'll be performing only elective, pre-scheduled surgeries, we won't be forced to shift schedules to accommodate emergencies. This will allow us to operate efficiently and be more sensitive to the needs of our patients and their family members."

URMC Surgery Center performs orthopedic, otolaryngology and plastic surgery cases, as well as some colorectal procedures in its first year and expects to perform 8,500 procedures.