$19.5 million hospital open

A group of area physicians and business executives has banded together under the name Center for Special Surgeries to open a 90,000-square-foot hospital at 3100 SW 89th St.

The $19.5 million project involved an expansion and makeover of the former CPC Southwind Psychiatric Hospital, doubling its size. Vickie Hicks of Design III oversaw the renovation of what had been Southwind, while Clark Construction finished the 45,000-square-foot addition earlier this month. Both worked from designs by architect Ron Costigan.

Construction costs totaled $14 million, according to Chief Executive Ed Cunningham. Equipment costs totaled $5.5 million. The facility along Interstate 44, about a mile south of Oklahoma City Community College, features 51 private rooms. More than 100 area physicians have applied for privileges to the facility, now operating under the temporary name Oklahoma City Mediplex. "We're getting more privilege requests every day," says Cunningham. They will work with a staff of 110, which includes about 45 registered nurses and six licensed practitioner nurses. Cunningham expects the staff to approach 175 to 200 people later this fall. CSS, consisting of 27 physicians and 15 business leaders, has taken a distinctly competitive stance. With the proposed outer loop turnpike passing within a half-mile, the hospital's target market ranges from south Oklahoma City to the Tri-Cities area, from Yukon to Moore. It foresees competition with Integris Southwest Medical Center and SSM Health Care's Hillcrest Health Center. "The physicians were not happy with how health care was going in south Oklahoma City," explains Cunningham. "The physicians started on that premise. "We're a patient-focused facility. The doctors opened this facility because they were tired of not being able to have a say and to be sure that their patients got the care they deserved." At the same time, CSS has carved out certain niches it will not compete for. Physicians on staff will offer cosmetic and plastic surgery, family practice and general surgery, gynecology, hand surgery, internal medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, pathology, pediatrics, physician medicine and radiology. "We will be doing all the major services," explains Cunningham, only to add, "We will not be delivering babies. We will not be doing organ transplants or open heart surgery, but we will be doing basically everything else." Organ transplants can be expensive, intensive procedures, while the birthing industry, however profitable, is the focus of the Renaissance Women's Hospital chain. "We believe they provide a good service," Cunningham says of Renaissance, "and together we can complement each other and their needs." The Mediplex staff worked throughout last week to finish its regulatory surveys and secure accreditations. By Friday they were recommended for Medicare accreditation, while surveyors with the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations said they would suggest the hospital receive provisional status as a new hospital. "We're growing very quickly," says Cunningham. "For the first three days of next week we already have 55 to 60 surgeries scheduled, for a brand new hospital. We haven't even stopped scheduling for those three days yet." The hospital has five patients in house. With the coming surgeries scheduled, Cunningham expects inpatient occupancy to "hit somewhere in 10 to 12 and grow somewhere from there. Our goal is to grow steadily and not at a rapid jump." By the end of the year, "we expect to be about 90 percent-plus occupancy," he says. Even so, the hospital's focus will be on outpatient services. Cunningham expects about 55 percent of its business will be on an outpatient basis. Outside of a purchasing agreement with University Health Partners, CSS has no business affiliations. It has made contacts with several managed care insurers to secure coverage. CSS is holding a contest to generate suggestions for a permanent name, which will be accepted at the facility's Thursday grand opening with first lady Cathy Keating and former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys football coach Barry Switzer. A CSS committee will choose a permanent name from the suggestions, with a $500 donation to a charity of choice presented for the winner. Despite its current name, the hospital has no ties to Mediplex Medical Building Corp. of Plano, Texas. That firm provides health care consulting and planning on equipment, architecture, construction, marketing and property management needs, among other topics.

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