Name: Sutter Alhambra Surgery Center (Sacramento, Calif.)
Opened: Aug. 1992
Annual case volume: 4,000 cases
Specialties: Orthopedics and podiatry
Number of physician owners/physician users: 20 physician-owners
Hospital/Corporate partners: Surgical Care Affiliates and Sutter Health
What makes it great: Sutter Alhambra Surgery Center, which has recently achieved re-accreditation by the AAAHC, houses three ORs and has more than 20 orthopedic surgeons using the facility.
Staff members attribute their pleasure in working at SASC to the clinical expertise of their colleagues and the surgeons’ concern and care for their staff members. “The surgeons are very supportive of the teammates,” says Denis Garrison, RN, OR charge nurse at SASC. “They are genuinely concerned about their benefits, enough hours worked and overall job satisfaction, which is a rare commodity.” SASC ensures employees receive a full package of benefits, including medical, dental and vision benefits and 401K.
Other staff members says the management company’s professionalism and willingness to be a “hands-on” company has been another factor in making SASC a great place to work for its staff members. “It is a rare characteristic to have a large successful company be so organized and on top of things, yet remain actively involved with, concerned and knowledgeable of the teammates,” says Wendy Theisner, RN, director of nursing.
In addition, an attitude of selflessness permeates every relationship within SASC, whether that relationship is between a clinician and a patient or between two staff members, Ms. Theisner says. “The teammates actually look for things to do to help another should their room finish early, and [everyone] is respectful of patients and their families and go out of their way to help [them],” she says.
