Hillcrest Unveils New Surgery Center

WACO, Texas – (March 14, 2013) Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center officials ceremonially cut the ribbon today on a new outpatient surgery center that features four operating rooms and more than 13,000 square feet of advanced surgical space.  The new center is located at the Medical Office Building I on the Hillcrest I-35 campus and will feature a convenient drop-off entrance for patients coming for surgery.

“We are very excited to be opening this new service offering to our community,” said Glenn A. Robinson, FACHE, CEO of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center – S&W Healthcare.  “The Hillcrest Surgery Center is a culmination of physicians, associates and technicians coming together to design a facility that is aimed toward providing a patient focused experience and personalized, high quality surgical care.  These additional operating suites will provide the patients we serve with the right care in the right place.”

The Hillcrest Surgery Center will handle a variety of operative cases, including: ENT, general orthopedics, hand procedures, urology, gynecology, general surgery, and spine and pain-management procedures. The vast majority of medical procedures performed typically do not require an overnight stay.

“I am excited about the opening of this new surgery center to serve our patients,” said David Haynes, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at Southwest Sports Medicine.  “This new surgery center allows patients that require an outpatient procedure to have convenient, efficient access to advanced surgical care.  They will truly have an enhanced patient experience.” 

Part of that patient-centered environment includes the Hillcrest Concierge Service, a group of associates who will greet patients and their families in the lobby of Medical Office Building I and guide them through the surgical admitting process.

“What makes this project special is the fact that our own surgery associates had a major hand in the design layout of the surgery center,” said Dennis Tidwell, director of Hillcrest Surgical Services. “Using Lean production principles, we’re able to reduce waste which makes for a more patient-centered environment.”  

Today, more than 70 percent of surgeries in the United States are performed in the outpatient setting, and one out of five of those are performed at an ambulatory surgery center, according to the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society.

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