February 4, 2019
Cincinnati’s top orthopedic programs – TriHealth and Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine – are coming together to create the region’s first orthopedic hospital. Through a development agreement, Beacon and TriHealth will spend the next 18 months completing the planning necessary to convert TriHealth Evendale Hospital – currently a multi-specialty surgical hospital – into a destination center exclusively for orthopedic inpatient and outpatient services.
The creation of a specialized orthopedic hospital:
Evendale Hospital is ideally positioned to be transitioned to an orthopedic hospital, as more than 40 percent of surgeries currently performed there are orthopedic, and the staff is expertly trained in caring for orthopedic patients. And, the 100,000-square-foot Evendale Hospital has 29 inpatient beds, 10 operating rooms and seven procedure rooms, with shell space for three more operating rooms; and it is the region’s highest-rated “five-star” hospital for patient experience as measured and reported by Medicare. The hospital – located at Glendale-Milford Road and Reading Road in Evendale – also already has magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), x-ray and fluoroscope capabilities. In addition, TriHealth is committed to making the necessary capital investments to ensure the facility is the region’s premier, state-of-the-art orthopedic hospital.
“Through this agreement, we are combining our strengths as leaders in providing efficient, cost-conscious, high-quality orthopedic care to create an inpatient facility solely dedicated to the community’s orthopedic needs,” said Peter Cha, MD, President of Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine. “While Beacon will remain an independent physician group and operate its own ambulatory surgery centers, this new orthopedic hospital will provide care to those whose needs require a hospital setting.”
Beacon and TriHealth have a long history of cooperation, and this agreement is an outgrowth of that relationship. For example, Beacon physicians routinely perform surgeries at TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital, while also performing surgery and taking call at TriHealth’s Bethesda North Hospital alongside TriHealth Orthopedic and Sports Institute (TOSI) physicians.
“This agreement is a reflection of the future of health care – creating a conveniently located center of excellence to fuel innovation, improve outcomes and drive efficiency while reserving our tertiary care centers like Good Samaritan and Bethesda North for patients with more complex needs,” said Mark C. Clement, President and CEO of TriHealth.
Beacon will continue to perform surgeries at its ambulatory surgery centers located in Sharonville and Western Hills, and will continue working with other local and regional hospitals to provide orthopedic services to the community. TOSI also will continue to perform orthopedic surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital and Bethesda North Hospital – both orthopedic centers of excellence – especially when the patient needs the type of care available in a tertiary hospital.
This partnership is not a merger, but an exclusive development agreement between TriHealth and Beacon Orthopaedics to create an orthopedic hospital. Beacon’s 26 physicians and TOSI’s surgeons and medical orthopedists will operate as separate entities, and Beacon will continue to retain privileges and perform surgery at other local facilities. Also, this agreement does not impact longstanding relationships TriHealth has with other orthopedic groups to perform surgeries in its hospitals and outpatient clinics.
Surgery centers and other facilities within the TriHealth network have already been identified for non-orthopedic physicians who currently care for patients at Evendale. TriHealth will work with such physicians over the next 18 months to transition care to new locations.