cedures, and are motivated to do the same. That has a significant
impact on positive surgical outcomes."
Mr. Cera and Dr. Evans shared some of their facilities' features that
were designed to enhance joint replacement outcomes, and improve
patient and staff satisfaction.
• Build around the ORs. Breathtaking atriums and high-end finishes
are nice and pack a patient-satisfying punch, but don't lose sight of
the space that matters most. Mr. Cera says his team dedicated enough
square footage to build healthy-sized ORs — the ORs in The
Orthopaedic Surgery Center are 590 square feet, plenty big enough to
house the equipment needed for total joints and, eventually, the spine
service line the surgeons plan to add — and built the rest of the facili-
ty around that money-making square footage responsible for meeting
the facility's return on investment.
Determining how many ORs to build or frame out for future use is
one of, if not the most, important decisions you'll make. When you're
spending $450 per square foot, difficult decisions need to be made. It
demands finding the sweet spot between forecasting future growth
and working within the constraints of your current budget.
"Our new facility has 4 ORs, one more than we worked with previ-
ously," says Mr. Cera. "Was it the right decision? We can't be certain,
but we're currently working with more capacity than before and still
have room to grow."
The Orthopaedic Surgery Center also built its pre-op and PACU areas
within steps of the ORs to limit the walking distance for staff and how
far patients have to be moved from one location to the next. Good
Samaritan's waiting room was built close to the ORs, so surgeons can
quickly shuttle between the spaces to update patient family members
between cases. "Maintaining that efficient communication is important
for everybody," says Dr. Evans.
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