09/17/2018

2018 CASA Awards for ASC Excellence

Sutter Alhambra Surgery Center awarded ASC of the Year

On Thursday, September 6, 2018, CASA revealed the recipients for the 2018 CASA Award for ASC Excellence and the CASA ASC of the Year.  The awards were established to acknowledge that California ASCs are drivers of excellent healthcare, providing opportunities and solutions for healthcare reform.  In 2016, the CASA Board established the CASA Award for ASC Excellence as a mechanism to honor ASCs who strive to “rise to the top.” The program is built around 5 pillar categories acknowledging a CASA member facility who exemplifies best practices in the surgery center industry, plus actively promotes and advocates for ASC excellence and inclusion in the healthcare delivery system.

All of the centers recognized demonstrated significant involvements in the award pillar areas of:

Membership – Facility supports the ASC industry through active engagement in professional organizations.

Advocacy – Facility drives ASC-related legislation at both the Federal and State level through education, action and financial contributions.

Quality Metrics – Facility drives transparency and clinical quality in the ASC through facility benchmarking and public reporting and superior performance of important metrics including outcomes, pricing, and patient satisfaction.

Education – Facility ensures clinical best practices, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance through ongoing patient, staff and physician education.

Community Involvement – Facility is actively engaged in educating the public regarding the benefits of ASCs and demonstrating leadership in improving the general health of their community.

The recipients submitted applications with supporting documentation demonstrating their commitment and involvements across the pillar categories.  The applications were reviewed by a select, unbiased committee, who chose 4 of the candidates to receive the award.  From these outstanding ASCs, one was selected to receive the distinguished award of CASA ASC of the Year.  The winners were announced at the annual CASA Business Meeting, during the CASA Conference, September 6, 2018.

2018 CASA Award for ASC Excellence Recipients

Julie Adelechanow, Surgery Center of South Bay, Nate Garner, Fort Sutter Surgery Center, Andrew Kim, Sutter Alhambra Surgery Center,  Sandy Keating, Surgery Center of San Carlos

Sutter Alhambra Surgery Center– CASA ASC of the Year

Sutter Alhambra Surgery Center is an orthopedic surgery center.  It was established in 1992 and has become a premier destination for orthopedic surgery in the greater Sacramento Community.  They developed an Outpatient Total Joint program in 2013, sharing best practices with other ASCs in California and across the nation. The center and its leadership are very active in the legislative process, participating in the CASA Advocacy Fund and hosting several legislative tours.  Their administrator participated in the DC Fly-In advocating on behalf of ASCs and Medicare reimbursement.    They actively pursue excellence through quality benchmarks and education.  They have long been involved with community charities and projects and recently donated time, supplies and services for a fully donated total knee replacement procedure. 

Surgery Center of South Bay

Surgery Center of South Bay, a multi-specialty surgery center, has been operating for 30 years, serving most of Los Angeles and Orange County.  They promote advocacy by actively getting their staff and physicians involved, supporting the industry through legislative correspondence.  They also conducted an instrumental legislative tour for Senator Steven Bradford. They are active in industry quality and benchmarking studies, including a AAAHC project on Safe Injection Practices.  They work towards a stronger community and serve as a surge center for the county of Los Angeles.  They are an ASC designated representative for LA County on the Disaster Coalition Advisory Committee.  They are active with local students and hosted 200 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students from the Riverside County School District. 

Surgery Center San Carlos

Surgery Center San Carlos is a multi-specialty surgery center located in the bay area. They have hosted a legislative tour and are active members of the CASA Advocacy fund.  They are extremely strong in the area of quality metrics, participating in benchmarking and developing many in-depth quality studies around GI and scope processing.  They encourage their staff with strong participation in ASC education and a significant number of their staff are certified across many areas.  The center Director and Manager are members of San Mateo County Healthcare Coalition for Emergency Preparedness and active in the county-wide exercise.    Surgery Center San Carlos is involved in the community by participating in the Gift of Surgery Program to provide free surgical care to uninsured patients with the greatest need and the least access to medical care.  The staff is extremely active in giving to their community through a wide variety of volunteer activities. 

Fort Sutter Surgery Center

Fort Sutter Surgery Center, a multispecialty ASC, was founded in 1986 and has over 200 credentialed doctors and 40 physician partners.  Performing over 14,000 cases annually, it is one of the busiest surgery centers in Northern California.  They are extremely active in advocacy by hosting two legislative tours, participating in the DC Fly-In and giving to the CASA Advocacy Fund.  They are not only active in benchmarking but also participate in outcomes projects that benefit patient safety.  The facility is active in the community SPIRIT program.  The SPIRIT program is a collaboration between the Sacramento Medical Society, local health systems and the county who donate their time and services to provide care to uninsured people in the Sacramento region.