Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Calling it a “tremendous” milestone, Parkview Health and Orthopaedics NorthEast (ONE) hosted a ribbon-cutting and open house Wednesday for their new orthopedic ambulatory surgery center at 335 E. CR 200N, Warsaw.
In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Alan McGee, president of Parkview Health Orthopaedics, said Parkview Health and ONE “recognize that medical care in general tends to be local, and patients and employers tend to want their care done in the community that they live in. So it’s a shared vision of Parkview Health and Ortho NorthEast to improve the access of world-class orthopedic care here closer to home.”
He said the Parkview/ONE Surgery Center reflects the continued collaboration Parkview Health and ONE have had over the last several years.
“We are totally committed to meeting the orthopedic needs of this community,” McGee said. “We think by increasing our presence in the Orthopedic Capital of the World, this brings more possibilities for innovative partnerships with local, national and even international medical device manufacturers. We’re extremely excited to explore and to expand these opportunities, and we’re very, very excited to do it here.”
McGee said he thinks the surgery center truly represents what the future of ambulatory orthopedic surgery will be.
“This care will be patient-centered, it’ll be efficient, it’ll be advanced and it’ll certainly be innovative. We’ll have the latest and greatest technologies that we’ll utilize from a pre-operative standpoint, inter-operatively and also post-operatively, and this certainly will be utilized in this facility,” he stated.
The ambulatory orthopedic surgery center is nearly 15,000 square feet, and is situated between two other new buildings - the Orthopaedic NorthEast clinic to the west and the Parkview Physicians Group (PPG) clinic to the east - creating a convenient and integrated healthcare campus, McGee said.
He said the goal is not only to meet the needs today, but to also ensure that Warsaw remains a destination for world-class orthopedic care for decades to come.
State Rep. Craig Snow, District 22, said not only did he grow up in the Warsaw community and raised his family here, but he also worked for the orthopedic industry for 20 years.
“So I am really happy for the investment that Parkview and Ortho NorthEast is making here,” Snow said.
He congratulated Parkview and ONE on their new facilities.
“Indiana has a strong reputation for being business friendly. Welcoming businesses to set up shop, grow and innovate here is the Hoosier (way). Indiana is ranked number one when it comes to overall cost of doing business and economic resilience, so we’re really proud of that fact,” he said.
According to the Tax Foundation, Snow said, Indiana ranks 10th in the nation for its business tax climate.
“And we’re not done. We’re still growing, and our business climate helps organizations like Parkview Health and Ortho NorthEast grow. These world-class companies are not only creating jobs and bolstering our local economy, they are also continuing to provide new groundbreaking healthcare options close to home. With a broad range of outpatient orthopedic surgeries, including joint replacements, port procedures and other surgeries, Parkview Health and Ortho NorthEast continue to bring exceptional care to Hoosiers,” Snow said, adding he was thankful for their investment in and commitment to Warsaw, wishing them continued success in the future.
Dr. Chris Johnson, president of ONE, said it was a “very exciting” day for every one.
“The mission of Orthopaedics NorthEast is to be the national leader in orthopedics, and to have such aspirational goals, we can not do that without our partnership with Parkview,” he said.
ONE has been providing care for Warsaw for over 25 years, Johnson said.
“We’re now going to bring our subspecialized model to the city. Warsaw being the Orthopedic Capital of the World, it deserves the best orthopedic care,” he stated. “So now, with the partnership of Parkview and ONE, we’re going to bring our subspecialized surgeons here, focusing on outpatient joint replacements. Some of the busiest and most talented joint replacement surgeons in the state, utilizing technology like robotics and navigation ... the full gamut of orthopedic care.”
Johnson said there’s a lot of great industry partners in Warsaw, and Parkview Health/ONE looks forward to partnering with them “in exposing this community to the future of technology and orthopedic care and embracing research and education through our fellowship programs. Excited to bring the world-class orthopedic care to this community.”
In an interview after the blessing by Chaplain Mark Fishburn and the ribbon-cutting, Johnson said the surgery center is officially open this week, but is awaiting state licensing, which can take a few months, but they’ll be up and running soon.
McGee said they’ll do their first case about Nov. 8.
“It’s going to be the full spectrum of orthopedic care, from joint replacements, spine surgery, sports surgery, foot surgery, hand surgery, all of orthopedics that can be done in the outpatient setting,” Johnson said of what the surgery center will offer.
On what the vision was for when Parkview Health and ONE came up with the three-building medical campus, McGee said, “We know that a lot of orthopedic surgery is being transitioned to outpatient type of work, and we certainly know that this community needs outpatient orthopedics here, so Parkview Health with Ortho NorthEast and with PPG all decided that it’ll be a great opportunity to build something close together to really improve the efficiency of patient care in a convenient way.”
The most common type of surgery probably will be knee and hip replacement, Johnson said, which will be same-day discharge thanks to the technology that will be used.
He said their top goal is quality care and providing high-quality care, but having good-value-based care and efficiency also are very important.
“We do try to be efficient and optimize the value for everybody,” Johnson stated.
There are three operating rooms in the surgery center. Between the three buildings on the mini medical campus, McGee estimated there will be 100 or so people employed. PPG is totally owned by Parkview Health, the surgery center is a partnership between Parkview Health and ONE, and the third building is ONE’s own facility.
“This is another area of growth for both Parkview and Ortho NorthEast. Again, elevating the subspecialized care of orthopedics here, but combining it with the primary care physicians so you can have the full gamut of care from primary care to the orthopedic specialists, and that will allow us to grow into further areas beyond Warsaw and help improve the care and increase the access of care throughout this region,” Johnson concluded.
