Administrator to Know: Brent Ashby of Audubon Surgery Center

Brent Ashby (Audubon Surgery Center, Colorado Springs, Colo.). Mr. Ashby is the administrator of Audubon Surgery Center and Audubon ASC at St. Francis and Women's Surgical Center, all located in Colorado Springs, Colo. The two Audubon centers are multi-specialty and have 15 operating rooms and four procedure rooms between them. Women's Surgical Center specializes in gynecology and has two operating rooms. The centers together perform an estimated 19,000 cases annually.

Mr. Ashby has been with Audubon Surgery Center since it opened in June 2000, and he opened the two other ASCs in Sept. 2008. Previously, he was the administrator of the Provo (Utah) Surgical Center for seven years, and he practiced law at a large firm in Phoenix.

Under Mr. Ashby's leadership, the surgery centers have been able to undertake several successful initiatives. "We have a staff profit-sharing program that allows the employees to feel like owners when it comes to profit distributions. They have a greater sense of ownership with this program," he says. Mr. Ashby and the centers have also refused to contract with payors who are unwilling to offer reasonable payment rates, particularly for orthopedic procedures and implants.

Mr. Ashby enjoys the high level of physician involvement in the operations at all of his ASCs. "It is not difficult for me to get the support I need from the physicians for any critical decisions," he says.

Mr. Ashby's favorite aspect of serving as an administrator is developing and maintaining a vision for the future in a market that is constantly on the move. "Because healthcare is ever-changing, I find it a challenging and stimulating endeavor to plan ahead to better position our facilities for success," he says.

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