Fifteen years ago, several groups of community surgeons joined together with St. Luke’s Hospital and announced plans to operate a certified outpatient surgery facility, Surgery Center Cedar Rapids. On Feb. 14, Surgery Center will perform its 100,000th procedure.
The state-of-the-art facility is designed for efficiency and convenience to handle an array of surgical and procedural specialties that don’t require inpatient hospitalization.
“St. Luke’s decided nearly 15 years ago that working in partnership with community physicians to offer a lower cost, quality alternative for surgery was in the best interest of the community,” Ted Townsend, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s, stated in a press release. “Over the years, the bulk of St. Luke’s lower intensity surgeries migrated to the center and the results have been fantastic, but saving this community over $100 million in just 15 years exceeded even our expectations. Hitting our 100,000 case milestone is proof positive that this was an alternative the community welcomed.”
Since 2003, Surgery Center Cedar Rapids saved individuals and their insurance providers $114 million as compared to the same procedures performed in a hospital-based setting. The majority of the financial savings go to insurance providers who cover the bulk of the procedural costs. But patients still saved more than $22 million in copays and deductibles.
“As patients continue to pay for a larger share of their health care coverage every year on top of their monthly premiums, the savings becomes more noticeable.” Dr. David Hart, president and medical director of Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa, stated in a press release. “Outpatient surgery facilities have become commonplace throughout the country and are extremely popular because they offer a lower cost as well as convenience to patients. We are very pleased that Cedar Rapids area residents have had access to this type of facility.”
