After a decade of fundraising and planning, hospital leaders cut the rib-
bon last January on a new 250,000-square-foot, 8-floor pavilion that hous-
es 12 state-of-the-art ORs. They're quick to point out that the project,
which reduced the number of inpatient beds, was a modernization, not
an expansion, of the hospital's campus.
"We were used to dealing with sickness," says David Rose, MD,
chief of the hospital's department of surgery. "We had to prepare for
dealing with wellness and enhancing recoveries to get patients back
to their normal lifestyle as quickly as possible."
The hospital's leaders had been investing in staffing and technology,
but hadn't yet made the difficult decision to invest in infrastructure.
They finally figured out that OR enhancements would prevent the
facility from being left in the construction dust of their competitors.
"We knew upgrades had to be made if the hospital was going to
remain relevant," says Andrea Gilbert, the hospital's president.
Built on strengths
Bryn Mawr's reputation as a surgery destination served as the founda-
tion for the new pavilion. "We have a very long and excellent history
as a surgical hospital," says Ms. Gilbert, "so surgery was very impor-
tant to our continued strategy and vision."
The hospital's leaders recently added a spine service line to capitalize
on an expected significant upward trajectory in case volume, and they
will continue to grow the hospital's same-day joints program. "We've
always had a deep profile in joint replacements," says Ms. Gilbert. "It's
been a big part of what we do, and we've built a center of excellence
within our health system around the procedures."
Ms. Gilbert says the hospital has entered into joint ventures with
physician-owners of several orthopedic surgery centers, and she
expects to lose some hip and knee replacements to those facilities.
She also realizes that being able to increase the volume of outpatient
On Point
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