Administrator to Know: Joe Majerus of Lakewalk Surgery Center

Joe Majerus (Lakewalk Surgery Center, Duluth, Minn.). Mr. Majerus is the administrator of Lakewalk Surgery Center in Duluth, Minn., a multi-specialty ASC that specializes in orthopedics, plastic surgery, gastroenterology, oral surgery, ophthalmology and pain management. He has been with center since it opened in 1999 and oversaw its building and development. Prior to coming to Lakewalk, Mr. Majerus served as a CFO for a hospital in Minnesota.

Mr. Majerus has seen success in creating an efficient ASC by training his nursing staff to work both in the center's six operating rooms, three procedure rooms and 18 private recovery areas. "Building our six ORs exactly the same along with providing quality and technically current equipment in each has kept our scheduling of multi-specialty cases flexible and efficient," he says.

Mr. Majerus has created annual stipends for staff as compensation for rotating "officerships" to help accomplish many of Lakewalk's accreditation needs and requirements. "This has been educational and interesting for staff and helpful for me in obtaining our accreditations over the past 10 years," he says.

Mr. Majerus reads every patient survey that is sent to his center. "They remind me of the quality of the surgeons and staff here at Lakewalk," he says. "We have, and pretty much have always had, a 97 percent approval rating, which we proudly publish on our Web site."

Mr. Majerus' favorite aspect of being an administrator is the variety of subjects he tackles and the range of responsibility he has on a daily basis. "We are an independent ASC and contract out very few things, so I end up managing our very own version of surgery center operations," he says.

Mr. Majerus sees a bright future for Lakewalk. "We are constantly trying to expand those specialties we already have by doing more complex procedures and adding more providers, while exploring new specialties that are under served in our area," he says. "This constant searching has helped in our growth, kept us productive and contributed to our success over the past 10 years," he says.

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