NAMES IN THE NEWS

Regent Surgical Health Opens New ASC

MAY 18, 2018

In partnership with 14 physicians, Regent Surgical Health of Westchester, Illinois, opened Oregon Surgical Institute (OSI) in Beaverton, Oregon. The new, 14,000-square-foot ASC, designed as a center of excellence, will specifically perform complex cases and procedures, focusing on total joint replacement, spine disorders, orthopedics and pain management, according to a company release.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this project is the opportunity to transition more acute orthopedic and spine cases out of hospital setting and into the outpatient arena,” said Regent Vice President of Operations Anne Roberts, in the release. “We’re working with physicians for whom this has been a long-time dream, and this facility is on the forefront for performing complex, total joint replacement procedures in an ASC setting. . . . The goal is higher quality, more affordable care for the patients.”

Alex Ching, MD, is one of the physician partners at OSI and president of its board of directors. “We have a unique group of surgeons at OSI," he said in the release. "Within orthopedic surgery and spine surgery and interventional pain procedures, we have multiple sub-specialties represented. Our physicians are diverse, with a high degree of technical expertise. And because we have been working together for several years to create this center, we have been able to coalesce around a shared vision of clinical excellence combined with a great patient experience.”

OSI surgeons represent seven separate physicians’ groups from geographically diverse parts of the Portland area.

“The inherent problem is total joint replacement surgery in a hospital is prohibitively and unpredictably expensive,” said Jim Ballard, MD, another OSI partner surgeon, in the release. “So, the idea of doing at least some of these procedures outpatient began to surface a few years ago. . . . Over the past six years, we’ve been doing them for 35 percent less cost than in a hospital; patients are happy, and complication are rates lower.”

OSI was designed specifically with the needs of total joint replacement surgeries in mind--with bigger operating rooms and recovery areas, wider hallways, hospital-scale cleaning and sterilization areas--and with 6,000 square feet of undeveloped space earmarked for the addition of facilities for overnight stays.

“New Oregon law allows patients to stay 48 hours in an ASC,” Ballard explained in the release. “If they can stay 48 hours rather than the 24 hours possible now, we have two opportunities: even more patients will be appropriate for surgery in our outpatient setting, and we can continue to add more complex cases.” Regent "embraced our vision and worked seamlessly with us to create the first center in the Northwest designed primarily to treat outpatient total joint replacement and spine disorders,” Ballard said.