Everything about the new Forest Park Medical Center in Southlake suggests VIP treatment: thoughtfully designed suites, soothing rooftop garden oases, chef-created meals and state-of-the-art technology.

But hospital officials and planners said it all makes a statement about patient care at the shiny new, $80 million boutique hospital, which specializes in surgery and acute care.

"An environment doesn't have to be just functional," said Chief Executive Officer Charles Nasem. "Studies have shown that the environment can make a big difference in the speed of a patient's recovery."

The hospital was designed to be exactly what a doctor would prescribe for premium patient care. So it's not surprising that many doctors were part of the planning process as co-owners.

The Southlake hospital, which opened at the end of May, is the third in the Forest Park Medical Center system of physician-owned hospitals, which is prospering despite the Affordable Care Act's curb on the ownership arrangement. Forest Park has three more hospitals planned in Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin.

The company, which also operates hospitals in Dallas and Frisco, managed to sidestep the 2010 federal ban on new physician-owned hospitals and expansion of existing facilities by choosing not to accept patients covered by Medicare or Medicaid. The federal ban was aimed at reducing health care costs by eliminating expensive elective procedures that are typically specialties of physician-owned hospitals.

"Medicare and Medicaid are only a part of the market, a part we are prohibited by law from accepting," said Dr. Robert Wyatt, founder and managing director of Forest Park Medical Center. "We would welcome the opportunity to serve these patients, but out of respect for the law, we simply cannot."

Forest Park does accept private insurance and the Southlake hospital will not turn away anyone from its emergency room.

Setbacks

The federal law is the latest in a series of setbacks that stalled construction on a 30-acre site at 335 E. Hwy. 114.

LandPlan Development of Dallas had hopes of building a physician-owned hospital on the site nearly a decade ago. Despite support from the city of Southlake and the community, a temporary federal moratorium on physician-owned hospitals, followed by the recession and then the Affordable Care Act regulations stymied the project for years, said Reed Williams of LandPlan.

LandPlan teamed up with Neal Richards Group of Dallas and finally built the hospital with Forest Park as the operator.

The 142,000-square-foot hospital is a full-service medical and surgical center that focuses on elective surgery, Nasem said. Specialties include gynecology, orthopedics, ear, nose and throat, as well as bariatric and cosmetic procedures.

It has 54 private patient rooms, including 10 family suites; 12 operating rooms; two endoscopy/special procedure suites; and an emergency room.