Wake County's largest hospital system is exploring a potential partnership with a private company that runs a chain of outpatient surgery centers across the country.
WakeMed's discussions with Surgical Care Affiliates could lead to various collaborations, including SCA managing WakeMed's three outpatient facilities in Raleigh and Cary.
Another possibility would involve WakeMed buying a majority stake in SCA's only local facility, the Blue Ridge Surgery Center just down the street from rival Rex Healthcare.
The two organizations expect to decide on an agreement by the end of February. WakeMed CEO Bill Atkinson said hospital officials have talked with Birmingham, Ala.-based SCA for several years about joining forces.
Tapping SCA's experience will help as Wake County's population continues to grow and WakeMed looks at adding more outpatient centers, Atkinson said. Demand for such centers, which are seen as a way to control medical costs compared with inpatient hospitals, could increase with a reformed health-care system.
“Like most complex organizations, we're always seeking ways to be on the leading edge of delivering health care to patients,” Atkinson said.
Any deal with SCA would give WakeMed access to a broader base of local physicians, a new source of referred patients and a partner with expertise in running outpatient centers. SCA would get access to WakeMed's clout in the fast-growing Wake County health-care market.
A deal also could effect WakeMed's plans to build a $60.7 million outpatient medical center next to its flagship Raleigh hospital. WakeMed officials filed that proposal with state regulators in June.
SCA runs 129 ambulatory surgery centers and hospitals, including five in North Carolina. The company was created in 2007 when an investment firm bought the outpatient surgery division of HealthSouth, a publicly traded health-services company also based in Birmingham.
HealthSouth was the center of a massive accounting scandal that sent former CEO Richard Scrushy to prison for nearly seven years.
SCA officials couldn't be reached for comment.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or 
Comments
need for more hospital beds
Fri, 10/30/2009 - 06:10 — ncstahls413Why isn't it mentioned that Wake Co. has such a limited # of hospital beds because of the advisory board that approves them? The public should rally against the limitations this board has imposed by preventing the hospitals adding the necessary number of beds. Regularly, patients lie in the ER for days because of this. This is insane & this board should change their actions. I'd love to see a story on the politics of that board & it's decisions.