November 25, 2024

Facility Construction and Design Orthopedics

By: Outpatient Surgery Editors

Published: 11/21/2024

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THIS WEEK'S ARTICLES

Mount Sinai Opens Four-OR Multispecialty ASC in Manhattan

MedStar Health Opens Seventh ASC

Building for Tomorrow: Designing a Healthcare Facility for Evolving Care Needs - Sponsored Content

A Critical Question to Answer Before Your ASC Build

New Outpatient Surgery Center Build Placed on Hold

 

Mount Sinai Opens Four-OR Multispecialty ASC in Manhattan

Peakpoint Midtown West Surgery Center can accommodate 23-hour recoveries.

PeakpointLARGE AND VERSATILE Mount Sinai’s Peakpoint Midtown West Surgery Center features four spacious ORs that can host orthopedic, spine, neurosurgery and breast procedures. | Mount Sinai Health System

New York City’s Mount Sinai Health System has opened Peakpoint Midtown West Surgery Center, a 25,106-square-foot multispecialty ASC in Manhattan. The new facility in the heart of America’s largest city is a joint venture among Mount Sinai, surgeons and Merritt Healthcare, an owner-operated firm focused exclusively on turnkey ASC development and management that seeks to “maximize hospital and physician ownership.”

The service lines running at opening are orthopedics, spine, neurosurgery and breast surgery, with the facility serving both adult and pediatric patients. The ASC hosts a robotic platform for total joint replacements, HANA tables for anterior hip replacements, and advanced imaging and pathology capabilities to support complex spine and breast surgeries. It features four large operating rooms and 12 recovery bays, and can accommodate 23-hour stays for recovery from more complex procedures in suites that include “beautifully appointed” bathrooms and showers.

The ASC is located one floor below Mount Sinai’s Breast Center, Imaging Center and Spine Center. As such, patients can benefit from a more integrated and convenient experience, according to physicians involved in the various specialties that use the center.

“Patients with spine problems can now see a non-operative spine physiatrist, have state-of-the-art imaging, have any needed injections, consult with an orthopedic spine specialist, consult with a neurosurgical spine specialist and, if needed, have minimally invasive outpatient spine surgery, all on two adjacent floors,” says Evan Flatow, MD, president of Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside.

Stephanie Bernik, MD, FACS, chief of breast service at Mount Sinai West, says the ASC will similarly be a game changer for patients undergoing breast surgery. “Patients requiring breast surgery can see the breast specialist, have imaging performed and needle localization if needed, and have surgery without navigating a hospital campus or even leaving the building,” she says. “And the addition of onsite pathology in the coming months with real-time analysis will enable swift and informed decisions during the procedure itself by minimizing any delay. This capability not only upgrades the patient experience but also leads to faster, more precise treatments, improving overall outcomes and recovery times.”

“Our outpatient joint program will be housed in this exceptional center and is on an adjacent floor to a full-service, multidisciplinary spine center offering low radiation imaging, non-operative spine specialists and state-of-the-art, comprehensive evaluation for surgical care,” adds Leesa Galatz, MD, professor and chair of orthopedic surgery for Mount Sinai Health System. “We will be able to provide superior orthopedic care to our community by offering an extraordinary, personal experience for spine procedures as well as sports, hand, upper extremity, and foot and ankle procedures.”

Brent Stackhouse, managing director of Mount Sinai Ventures and president of the ASC, says both affiliated and non-affiliated Mount Sinai physicians from across the community will have access to the facility.

MedStar Health Opens Seventh ASC

New Annapolis multispecialty center sits at the gateway to Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore.

MedStar-Annapolis
STRATEGIC LOCATION MedStar Health Surgery Center at Annapolis resides near the primary connection point between the rural region of the Delmarva Peninsula and the Baltimore-Washington metro area. | MedStar Health

Mid-Atlantic healthcare system MedStar Health has opened its seventh ASC, this time in Annapolis, Md.

Located on the third floor of an existing medical building, MedStar Health Surgery Center at Annapolis is a 10,000-square-foot ASC that is currently hosting numerous outpatient surgical specialties. In its announcement, MedStar said the ambulatory surgery and endoscopy center is offering electrophysiology services, gastroenterology procedures including colonoscopies, orthopedic surgeries “including services for hips, knees, shoulders and on-site X-ray,” vascular disease treatments and pain management.

The ASC is located in the same building as newly opened orthopedics, physical therapy and gastroenterology offices, and joins primary care services that have been available for several years at the site.

“This new surgery center greatly expands the range of treatments we can now offer our patients in the Annapolis area,” states Angela Catlett, BSN, RN, CNML, the new ASC’s director of operations.

Annapolis, a city with a population of about 40,000, is the state capital of Maryland and home of the U.S. Naval Academy. It is strategically located at the gateway to Maryland’s largely rural and geographically sprawling Eastern Shore on the Delmarva Peninsula. As such, the new ASC could provide an attractive alternative for many local patients who might otherwise need to travel to the Baltimore or Washington, D.C., areas for certain surgical treatments.

“Surgical services combined with the related non-surgical services and primary care means patients in the Annapolis area have convenient access to the expertise they need all under one roof,” states Ms. Catlett. “Patients can have their outpatient surgeries close to home, and then get their follow-up care and even physical therapy before and after surgery in the same convenient location. This new surgery center demonstrates our commitment to providing seamless access to the newest diagnostic technologies and surgical techniques to the Annapolis community.”

MedStar Health, a $7.7 billion not-for-profit regional healthcare system based in Columbia, Md., identifies as the largest healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region, with more than 33,000 employees and 300 care locations that include 10 hospitals, 33 urgent care clinics, hundreds of primary and specialty care providers, and now seven ASCs.

The Annapolis surgery center joins MedStar’s existing Maryland ASCs in Timonium, Lutherville-Timonium, Silver Spring, Brandywine and Hyattsville, along with a location in downtown Washington, D.C.

 

Building for Tomorrow: Designing a Healthcare Facility for Evolving Care Needs
Sponsored Content

Learn how Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics in Carmel, Indiana, partnered with Stryker to build a facility that would stand the test of time

ForteForté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics in Carmel, Indiana.
Credit: Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics

Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics first embarked on developing an orthopedic institute in Central Indiana in 2020. When looking for partners to equip their operating rooms, Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics reached out to Stryker because of its comprehensive portfolio of products and services that were essential in building an ambulatory surgery center.

According to Marty Rosenberg, CEO Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics/President Forté Orthopedic Institute, “The evolution of care from the inpatient to the outpatient has really influenced this facility because we tried to future-proof it. We partnered with Stryker to help us design an OR that would stand the test of time.”

These advanced technologies can be acquired using flexible payment programs provided by Stryker’s Flex Financial business, providing a convenient alternative to cash purchases. This unique portfolio of financing options was incredibly important to the Forté team. Marty Rosenberg said, “The ability to have the unique financing allowed us to afford some of the assets that became critical in the overall mission of what we were creating here.”

Stryker’s comprehensive, cutting-edge technology portfolio can outfit an entire facility from top to bottom, from the lobby and pre-op rooms to the procedure rooms, operating rooms and recovery rooms. According to Joseph Maratt, MD, Hip and Knee Replacement Surgeon at Forté, “What was really attractive was the breadth and depth of Stryker’s portfolio and how one vendor could help with almost all of our needs.”

One of the cutting-edge technologies that Dr. Maratt uses is Mako SmartRobotics. Dr. Maratt adopted Mako SmartRobotics into his practice 10 years ago. He said, “One of the ways that Mako has changed my practice is by giving me more visibility into my choices during hip and knee replacement.”

Tami Robinson, Executive Director of Operations at Forté said, “Stryker understands the financial, operational and clinical goals of the center. They customize to our goals, and they are looking for solutions. It’s not just this one size fits all.”

Stryker’s ASC business has partnered with hundreds of new and expanding surgery centers like Forté across the country. Their deep expertise in the new build process ensures that facilities will not only meet current needs, but also endure future changes in healthcare as higher acuity cases transition to an outpatient care setting, standing the test of time with lasting quality and innovation.

For more information on Stryker’s ASC business, click here.

For a look at the Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics video, click here.

For more information on the facility, click here.

 

A Critical Question to Answer Before Your ASC Build

Should you build your surgery center from the ground up or renovate an existing space?

Developing, designing and building a brand-new surgery center from scratch is often the first thought stakeholders have when sketching out their vision, but it may not always be the most practical one. That’s why it’s so important for everyone involved in the process to answer the build-brand-new-or-renovate-an-existing-space question from all angles.

When ASCs are built from scratch, owners essentially have an open canvas for determining exactly what they want in the facility. While that’s wonderful in theory, it can be overwhelming and full of surprises. It can also be difficult to determine how much space will be needed at opening and how much extra space should be set aside to accommodate future growth.

When ASCs are built for expansion, the benefits are many, says Lisa Austin, RN, CASC, a healthcare consultant for Avanza Healthcare Strategies, an ASC and healthcare advisory organization in Westchester, Ill., who recalls one project she helped facilitate in Texas. That new center opened with three ORs, but the architect’s blueprint gave the ASC the option of bringing a fourth OR online later with little disruption. Owners agreed to the move, and the center has since expanded and is reaping the benefits of its new fourth OR.

Not all ASCs enjoy the option of a new build, however. Sometimes renovations to an existing space are all that is available in the desired location. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In this scenario, the build team should closely examine the space to determine how difficult or expensive it would be to get it up to code to operate as a surgery center, while also ensuring it has the necessary room to keep clinicians, staff and workflow operating comfortably while providing a superior patient experience.

Regardless of whether you build from the ground up or retrofit an existing space, have a solid business plan in place. Many failed ASC builds can be traced back to a poor business plan. For example, Ms. Austin recalls working with a center that was built without a book of business lined up. “They thought if they built it, people would just come,” she says. “It turned out to be a huge failure. Before you build, ensure the business plan is as accurate as possible.”

 

New Outpatient Surgery Center Build Placed on Hold

State regulators temporarily halt University of Vermont Medical Center project.

University of Vermont (UVM) Medical Center’s groundbreaking of a new outpatient surgical center has been temporarily shelved due to a state mandate that the UVM health system reduce its budget by $122 million for the new fiscal year. The independent Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB), whose five members are appointed by the governor for six-year terms to oversee the state’s healthcare industry in service to the public interest, recently issued the order.

The surgery center had been scheduled to break ground and begin construction this fall, with a scheduled opening in mid-2026. While planning and fundraising efforts for the proposed center will continue, UVM projects the facility now won’t open until 2027 at the earliest.

UVM Medical Center President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Leffler, MD, says the state’s decision will directly harm patient care.

“Our population is getting older and sicker, which means they need higher levels of care, including surgeries,” says Dr. Leffler. “When it is built, this facility will allow us to deliver more affordable, high-quality care in a more appropriate setting for most patients. But as a nonprofit hospital, we are in the difficult position of having our budgets cut substantially when we are trying to respond to the health needs of our community. This is not the step we wanted to take, because we know this will delay our ability to reduce wait times for surgeries that patients desperately need.”

UVM Medical Center officials point to a dramatic shift in Chittenden County’s population, which is growing and aging, as the primary driver of need for the surgery center, which they say would be more efficient and would minimize the need for unnecessary inpatient hospital stays. The hospital projects its current surgical capacity will fall short of demand by nearly 4,300 cases annually by 2030 if the outpatient center isn’t built.

The pause on construction of the outpatient surgery center is just one of several cost-cutting actions that will be necessary for UVM to meet the state’s budget requirements. The state also ordered cuts at Central Vermont Medical Center, another hospital in the six-hospital UVM Health Network. The total amount of state-required budget cuts equates to closing the entire UVM hospital system for 17 days, say UVM Medical Center officials.

Another painful aspect of the budget crunch was revealed: “The GMCB also penalized UVM Medical Center for meeting increased demand and providing more care to patients than was approved for the 2023 fiscal year.”

UVM Medical Center has filed a motion with the GMCB to delay that penalty, which it says was issued without first providing the hospital an enforcement hearing or taking any testimony regarding the consequences of the ordered cuts. UVM Medical Center will appeal the enforcement action as an illegal exercise of the board’s authority. If the GMCB approves that motion, the hospital could postpone some service cuts while the appeal is pending.

“We appreciate UVM’s thoughtful approach and understanding of the healthcare affordability crisis the state is in,” GMCB Board Chair Owen Foster, JD, tells Outpatient Surgery Magazine. “This pause will allow UVM to continue its focus on its fundamentals and operations, and I am optimistic they will be able to realize the surgery center at the right time.” OSM

 

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