New Ambulatory Surgery Center Under Construction At Houston Medical Center
Houston Medical Center’s new multi-specialty Ambulatory Surgery Center, featuring three general operating and two endoscopy suites, is expected to open in January 2005.This 15,850-square-foot, $7.5 million facility will provide Houston Medical Center with the capability to handle an increasing load of outpatient surgery volumes. Over the past five years, the number of outpatient surgery cases has increased by 47 percent, averaging over 11percent growth each year. In 2003, 86 percent of all surgeries performed at Houston Medical Center were on an outpatient basis.
“Our operating rooms and endoscopy suites are currently operating at optimal capacity, and our Surgery Department is located in an area within the hospital that cannot be expanded or reconfigured without disrupting services. At the current level of utilization, the volume of non-elective cases often requires rescheduling of elective cases after normal business hours,” explains Frank J. Aaron, CEO of Houston Healthcare. “After much review, the Hospital Authority and Administrative staff determined that the best alternative to relieving the strain on the Surgery Department was to develop an Ambulatory Surgery Center as the least disruptive approach towards meeting future growth and diminishing current scheduling problems.”
“With the continued growth in our county, we anticipate our surgery volumes to continue to increase,” Aaron said. “We believe that this center is the best approach to meeting potential future demand, and will also be convenient and more accessible for our patients.”