10 ASCs With Community Outreach & Charity Care Programs

Here are 10 surgery centers with charity care programs for underserved populations in their communities.

If you would like to recommend another surgery center for this list, contact Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com.

Boulders Ambulatory Surgery Center (Richmond, Va.). This surgery center has a charity discount policy for uninsured or underinsured patients who do not qualify for other governmental medical assistance programs. It also includes an uninsured discount program for patients who do not qualify for Medicaid, charity care or any other discount programs offered at the center.

Boulders Ambulatory Surgery Center includes three operating rooms, and is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. It offers numerous orthopedic surgery services including knee osteotomy, meniscectomy, open reduction and internal fixation surgery, rotator cuff repair and ACL surgery.

First State Surgery Center (Newark, Del.). The surgery center is committed to providing charity care and several times a year, it pro-actively contacts social services agencies, community centers and schools to find uninsured or under insured patients in the state who are healthy enough to have outpatient orthopedic surgery.

The surgery center is equipped with operating rooms and recovery areas as well as a waiting area. The physicians of First State Orthopaedics offer care at the center and serve as physician-professors at the University of Delaware in Newark.

Garrett Eye Center's Ambulatory Surgical Center (Iron Mountain, Mich.). Opened in 1987, the surgery center offers specialized and high-quality ophthalmology services. Over 1,000 surgeries are performed annually at the center. The center includes an on-site certified anesthesiologist. Center Director Teri Mulka, RN, John Michael Garrett, MD, and his staff have participated in Mission Cataract Surgery Day events for the last 22 years by providing free surgery, pre- and postoperative care to patients who don't have health insurance or have financial difficulties.

"It is incredible to see the gratitude of the patients and to participate as staff," said Ms. Mulka. The center's other physician, Dean L. Hartwig, OD, also participates in VISION USA, which provides basic eye examinations to people in need and InfantSEE, a public health program designed to ensure that eye care becomes an essential part of infant wellness care. Both programs are endorsed by the American Optometric Association. Dr. Garrett has also participated in volunteer eye surgeries in Africa, Central America and other underserved countries annually through organizations such as the Christian Eye Ministry. This year in Honduras, Dr. Garrett performed 15 corneal transplants as well as multiple glaucoma surgeries in one week.

Golf Surgical Center (Des Plaines, Ill.). The surgery center offers financial assistance to needy patients through its charity care program. All those who inform the center that they cannot afford the services they have received are eligible for financial assistance.

The center was established in 1988, and it is a freestanding center, owned and operated by physicians and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. The center is licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health and Medicare as well as accredited by the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care. It offers surgical services in numerous specialties, including gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, ENT, pain management, podiatry and urology.

MEDARVA Stony Point Surgery Center (Richmond, Va.). The surgery center offers time, services and financial aid through its Charity Care Program. In 2010, it provided over $1.1 million in charity care, offering ophthalmologic and optometric care through two Richmond-based nonprofits — Access Now and CrossOver Ministry.

The center is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care and licensed by the Virginia Department of Public Health. It has an open floor plan and includes preoperative and post-recovery areas, where parents are welcome if their child is a patient. It offers surgical services in numerous specialties, such as general surgery, ENT, ophthalmology, orthopedics, podiatry and urology.  

Missoula (Mont.) Bone & Joint Surgery Center. The surgery center is actively involved in charity care efforts and works with Missoula Medical Aid. Andrew Puckett, MD, one of the center's surgeons, goes to Honduras to provide charity care annually. The center's physicians also volunteer their services to the Osprey, a local semiprofessional baseball team, and some surgeons work with Partnership Health Center, which works with low-income people and sees patients for free.

The practice offers a community outreach program that provides free educational seminars and workshops to the community. Topics covered by the seminars and workshops have included types of injuries, preventive measures and treatment options.

Founded in 2001, the freestanding surgery center is a member of the Montana Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. The center is a service of the nine-physician orthopedic practice, Missoula Bone & Joint. The physicians have subspecialty training in sports medicine, joint replacements, hand and microvascular surgery, foot and ankle reconstruction and spine care.

North Shore-LIJ Ambulatory Surgery Center (Lake Success, N.Y.). The ambulatory surgery center offers services for eligible patients at a reduced fee through
North Shore-LIJ’s Financial Assistance Program. The program assists uninsured patients — earning up to three times the federal poverty level — who do not qualify for publicly subsidized health insurance. The center determines eligibility of patients based on their income, assets, family size and medical needs.

The 23,000-square-foot center includes four operating rooms, recovery areas and a pre-surgical testing suite. It offers children and adults services in a wide array of specialties, including gynecology, urology, orthopedics and general surgery.

Peak One Surgery Center (Frisco, Colo.). The surgery center, a Pinnacle III-managed facility, hosts annual Community Surgery Days, wherein the ASC's physicians provide surgical services to the community's needy and underserved population. Peter Janes, MD, of Vail (Colo.) Summit Orthopedics proposed the idea after returning from a medical mission trip, and in October 2013, the center organized its fourth annual surgery day event, where surgeons performed orthopedic and general surgery procedures on 16 patients. The event is organized and run in conjunction with Summit Community Care Clinic — a safety net provider designed to provide medical care to patients regardless of their ability to pay.

"Patients tell us it's like winning the lottery," said Alena Pochman, clinical director of the surgery center, in a Becker's ASC Review article.
 
The surgery center is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, and it offers services in a wide array of specialties, such as orthopedic surgery, urology, gynecology, pain management and gastroenterology. Its medical staff comprises 22 physicians.

Surgery Center at Tanasbourne (Hillsboro, Ore.). The center organized a Charity Care day, wherein the center offered free colonoscopies and hernia repairs to patients in need. According to ASC Administrator James Kamps, RN, MBA, CNOR, the idea came to him after he saw a video of a Charity Care day event at another center at the Oregon Ambulatory Surgery Center Association conference in 2012. "The video really affected me," he said. "I began to look into how my center could give back to the community that surrounds us."

Mr. Kamps contacted Project Access NOW, an organization that had patients who needed help and had already been through a screening process for eligibility. The center scheduled the cases on a Saturday and staff and physicians came in on a volunteer basis, said Mr. Kamps.

Providence Health and Services opened this freestanding surgery center in March 2009. It features four operating rooms and two procedure rooms. The center is managed through a joint venture with Blue Chip Surgical Partners, and it offers a number of services, including gastroenterology, general surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, plastic surgery and pain management.

Surgical Center of South Jersey (Mount Laurel, N.J.). In December 2012, the surgery center started the Advocacy in Action program. Each quarter, at least one charitable organization worthy of support is selected. Over the past year, the program has contributed time and financial support to causes such as Toys for Tots, Healing the Children, a homeless shelter hygiene drive, an animal shelter supply drive, a holiday food drive, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Lights of Hope initiative and the Kisses-for-Kyle organization.

"Our biggest success this year was forming the center's first American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer team. Not only did we participate in the walk itself in large numbers, but were able to donate over $3,000 from an event we hosted for the cause –100 people attended," says administrator Nicole Bodnar. "Advocacy in Action simply puts a name and a specific timeline to what our teammates have done for many years — give back to their community."

Surgical Center of South Jersey is affiliated with Surgical Care Affiliates. It is a multispecialty surgery center with two procedure rooms, four operating rooms and more than 40 team members.

More Articles on ASCs:

Dr. Daniel Eglinton Opens Asheville Biologics and Orthopedics
Sanford Health Opens $9M Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Center

Dr. Jeffrey Postma Joins Lakeland Healthcare's Community Bone and Joint

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