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Mitch Graves, Methodist Healthcare -Affiliated Services Presdient and CEO

The ambulatory surgery center at Hamilton Eye Institute is expected to treat its first patient Sept. 17; that’s just three years later than expected.

The 9,281-square-foot surgery center, located on the third floor of the building housing Hamilton, features three operating rooms and two laser suites. Projections are for 1,700 procedures in the first year, which would make it the primary ophthalmic surgery center in the region.

Hamilton is a $60 million integrated ophthalmology center at 930 Madison that’s part of the University of Tennessee (UT) Health Science Center, named for its chief benefactor, ophthalmologist Ralph S. Hamilton. The center will combine research, academics, clinics and surgery in one place for both adults and children.

The surgery center is tied into the UT fiber optic system so students can watch procedures in the adjacent 99-seat auditorium, and then go into practice labs for hands-on experience. Over the UT network, procedures can be carried worldwide.

The facility was first announced in March 2004 with a six-month build out. Methodist Healthcare, Inc., and Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. both stepped up with part of the $3 million cost. It stalled when few doctors showed interest, despite the diligent efforts of ophthalmic surgeon Chris Fleming, the medical director and vice chair of clinical affairs at Hamilton. Most surgeons were already entrenched at other surgery centers.

“It lost steam in that they weren’t finding physicians in the community to join as partners,” said Mitch Graves, president and CEO of Methodist Healthcare -Affiliated Services. “Two years ago, I became president of the division and Chris said ‘help me.’”

One arm of Methodist Affiliated Services is Solus, a management company that will staff and manage Hamilton’s facility. Solus also staffs and manages four other area ambulatory surgery centers: Wolf River, Methodist-North, Le Bonheur East and Midtown Surgery Center.

Graves Fleming and nurse Sherry Crone, Solus administrator, developed a marketing plan aimed first at the most likely physician candidates. Then Crone and Fleming began knocking on doors. They ultimately recruited 13 physicians as investors.

“Sherry is a nurse but has the business understanding on how a surgery center needs to operate as a profitable venture, and she knows how to explain it,” Grave said.

Nurse Jodie White, who had been at the Methodist-North surgery center, will be clinical director.

The surgery is unique in that it’s open for use by all ophthalmologists, not just investors and UT faculty, Fleming said. It also has a host of equipment exclusive for eye procedures that most general surgery centers can’t provide.

“We’re exclusively set up for eye surgery, with operating microscopes and retina instrumentation,” Fleming explained. “We also have a concentration of specialists in our nurses, technicians and other physicians for quick consultation.”

He anticipates three rings of service areas: Memphis is the inner ring for most types of eye surgery. Within a 250-mile radius, the center expects referrals for specialty procedures that had been going to St. Louis or Nashville. The entire southeast is a referral area for sub-specialty areas like oncology and pediatric glaucoma.

The center is also unique in that Baptist and Methodist set aside their usual fierce competition to work together.

“When Dr. Fleming called me about a joint venture, we worked with our accountants and did a pro forma,” said David Hogan, executive vice president and COO of Baptist. “It’s real tight; it’s not going to have the returns of other surgery centers, but we think it’s part of our mission and a necessary function.”

Methodist takes a similar tack. Anything that strengthens UT is good for Methodist University Hospital, Graves said, and Hamilton will concentrate specialists conducting research, teaching and clinical care.

A critical partner to the entire scheme, Fleming said, is the Lion’s Club. As a charity, the Lion’s Club is able to raise money and acquire grants, which has helped fund much of the specialized equipment for the surgery center and other elements of Hamilton.

“They have for years allowed us to give care to indigent patients at Methodist, and now we will move that to Hamilton,” Fleming said. “We as surgeons donate our time, and they raise money to cover costs and buying equipment.”

Hamilton Eye Institute is the life’s work of ophthalmologist Barrett Haik, who was recruited 15 years ago from Tulane University in New Orleans to develop the center. Haik is chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at UT, who holds the endowed Hamilton Professorship. He’s also director of the eye clinic and the eye cancer service at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Even though it’s a UT property, the university and the state government were only bit players in the project; virtually all of the money for Hamilton was raised by Haik and his faculty.

Nine locations were considered for the institute, including new construction and the renovation of the now-demolished UT Bowld Hospital. Haik had long hoped for the 930 Madison building location, an eight-story, mixed-used medical building that was part of a $70 million effort by Baptist in 1991 to keep its Midtown campus the center of business.

When Baptist gave most of its Midtown real estate to UT for development of the UT-Baptist Research Park, the 930 building was earmarked for the eye institute.



September 2007

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