While not part of the absolute largest companies, these three ASC management and development company CEOs have kept the outlooks for their companies going through a tough and ever-changing industry.
Robert Carrera, of Pinnacle III, began with the Colorado-based company in late-August, 2012, though had already accrued nearly 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, focusing primarily on the development of surgery centers. Mr. Carrera has been active at state legislatures regarding issues affecting ASCs in Colorado, Minnesota and Utah. He formerly served as the Colorado Ambulatory Surgery Center Association's Vice President, and was one of its founding members.
Most recently, Mr. Carrera's company dealt with a fire at one of its surgery centers in Colorado. Pinnacle's Peak One Surgery Center in Frisco has closed temporarily after a line burst on Dec. 31 and flooded most of the center.
Mr. Carrera also has experience with rehabilitation centers, medical clinics and diagnostic imaging centers. He has experience helping surgery centers build operational strategies resulting in improved performance. He currently holds responsibility for more than $150 million in annual revenue.
Mr. Carerra's pioneering approach has created firm physician loyalty to the entities he oversees. Organizations who have adopted his action plans have experienced greater volume and enhanced bottom-line performance while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.
John C. Wilson Jr., of Meridian Surgical Partners, assumed the role of CEO on in early October of 2013. Mr. Wilson had been the company's CFO since the company was founded in 2006. In September, Wilson successfully steered Meridian Surgical Partners through a lawsuit settlement. The company specializes in the acquisition, development and management of multispecialty and spine-driven ambulatory surgery centers.
All of Meridian's centers are physician-owned, with the exception of the addition of a hospital partner, Bronson Battle Creek, who now owns a minority share in Brookside Surgery Center in Battle Creek, Mich. Meridian owns and operates 10 centers in 9 states. Prior to Meridian, Mr. Wilson gained experience as both a COO and CFO with two healthcare companies.
He served as COO of Xtensia, a revenue cycle management company, and executive vice president of finance and operations for Working Rx a workers' compensation pharmacy services company, formerly a division of Medifax-EDI. Mr. Wilson also has over six years of experience in public accounting. He has a Master of Professional Accountancy degree from Mississippi State University.
Michael Lipomi, of Surgical Management Professionals, took over there in October of 2010. Mr. Lipomi has more than 30 years of hospital and surgery center experience in development and operations. He was the founder of the California Ambulatory Surgery Association as well as Physician Hospitals of America. After converting his surgery center to a hospital, Mr. Lipomi founded Physician Hospitals of America and served six years on the board of directors. Mr. Lipomi is still on the board as an ex officio member and on the Presidents Advisory Committee.
Surgical Management Professionals' core services include surgery center development and management, but it also provides an array of revenue cycle solutions including coding, billing and collections services. It has served physicians, surgery centers and hospitals for more than 25 years. Surgical Management Professionals began with the establishment of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Surgical Center, a multispecialty center, and it became a separate, primarily physician-owned business entity in 2004.