Becker's Spine Review

39 ASC Johns Hopkins' innovative ASC model gives patients, physicians best of 3 worlds By Patsy Newitt T he ASCs at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins have a unique benefit: access to research, education and a health system. e organization, dubbed the Johns Hopkins Surgery Center Series, serves patients at sev- en locations and is a joint venture between Johns Hopkins Health System and its school of medicine. "That joint governance structure ensures that we're balancing our needs from a health system perspective and ASC per- spective," Brian Geissler, vice president and chief administrative officer for ASCs for Johns Hopkins Health System, told Becker's ASC Review. Being an integrated health system operating in a small geographic health system allows Johns Hopkins to coordinate planning across ASCs and optimize resources. Unlike freestanding ASCs, Johns Hopkins structure and mission give the ASCs the op- portunity to cater to community needs rather than business needs, Mr. Geissler said. e organization can leverage the entity to build, for example, an ASC in an underserved com- munity. e academic backing also allows the health system to be innovators in ambulatory re- search and education, Lisa Ishii, MD, an otolaryngologist and president of the Johns Hopkins Surgery Center Series told Becker's ASC Review. For physicians, the model gives access to different facilities appropriate for the type of patient and procedure that they are treating — a hospital in some cases, an ASC in oth- ers. e organization also gets to train the next generation of physicians as the migra- tion of procedures to the outpatient setting accelerates. is is key because physicians need to be trained on how ASCs operate to ensure effi- ciency, Mr. Geissler said. "Oen that training lacks ASC experience," he said. "I think, as an industry, we need to partner better with academics. In our case at Johns Hopkins, thankfully, that's who we are." is flexibility is also a benefit Johns Hopkins patients can enjoy. e model gives more site options for patients to receive their proce- dures. "As an academic health system, we have fully embraced this fully-owned model to add to our portfolio of resources that we can pro- vide to our patients and providers," Dr. Ishii said. "And we're really excited about em- bracing them as sites for learners and sites for research and would encourage our peers to do the same." n Orthopedic ASC will bring 800 total joints per year to Ohio city By Marcus Robertson C leveland-based University Hospitals is building an orthopedic ASC in Amherst, Ohio, that will create 20 to 25 new jobs, The Chronicle Chronicle report- ed Jan. 27. The health system is planning to break ground in June, with the ASC ready to serve patients in late 2023, the re- port said. It will include five operating rooms, one proce- dure room and eight recovery suites, providing capacity for 800 total joint replacements per year. In addition to orthopedic services, the center will include spine, pain management and otolaryngology procedures, the report said. University Hospitals declined to comment on the project's cost, but Amherst Mayor Mark Costilow said he's heard unconfirmed numbers in the $30 million range. Site plan approval has not yet been granted, the report said. It's likely to appear on the Amherst Planning Com- mission's Feb. 23 agenda. n $225M Florida project with ASC, Andrews Institute cleared for construction By Marcus Robertson T he site for the new Flagler Health+ Durbin Park medical campus in St. Johns County, Fla., has been cleared for construction, The Florida Times-Union reported Jan. 26. The $225 million, 42.5-acre campus will include an ASC, a medical office building, a women's health pavilion and a 77-bed hospital, the report said. The campus will be the site of the Andrews Sports Medicine Institute. About 10 percent of the work has been completed, the re- port said. Construction on the medical building and wom- en's pavilion was expected to begin by the end of January and be completed by spring 2023. Hospital construction is slated to begin in May, and it should open in spring 2024. Projected start and completion dates of the outpatient surgery center were not immediately available, the report said. n

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