Surgical Care of Okla. partners with national outfit

Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, said it has entered into a partnership with specialty surgical service provider Surgical Care Affiliates, which operates surgical hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers across the country. In the deal—effective Sept. 1—the physicians who owned the 12-bed hospital sold their 60% interest to Surgical Care Affiliates, which now owns the majority stake. The physicians own the remaining 40%, said Phil Ross, who has served as the hospital's administrator for eight years and will continue in that role.

“Surgical hospitals are high-quality, low-cost providers of surgical services, which creates substantial savings for both patient and the healthcare system,” physician Kevin McMullen, Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma's medical director, said in a news release about the transaction. “This makes the Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma an attractive place for my partners and me to care for our patients,” he said.

Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma provides podiatry, orthopedic, pain management, gynecology, plastic and cosmetic, ophthalmology and otolaryngology surgical services. Surgical Care Affiliates operates 127 ASCs and hospitals and has about 2,000 physician partners. The hospital will retain its name, and also add that it is now “an affiliate” of Surgical Care Associates, Ross said.

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