The new center is the first hospital wing to open on the CPRMC’s fourth floor, which has room for two more wings in anticipation of future growth, CEO Brand Holland said.
The $6 million Joint & Spine Center has 15 beds that are dedicated for orthopedic cases, and the wing also features specialized nurses and physical therapists. Hospital officials said the new wing will accept its first patients starting Monday, Aug. 7.
“This is a very high-profile, elective surgery that is going to be very unique to our hospital, and really, the Greater Austin market,” Holland said. “This isn’t just another hospital wing; this is a very unique service.”
Holland said hospital leadership planned to open the Joint & Spine Center after evaluating the hospital’s needs and growth. Since orthopedic and spine surgeries are elective, the scheduled surgeries would sometimes be bumped off schedule by emergency surgeries in the emergency room. By separating joint and spine surgery into a designated unit, the CPRMC is placing patients in an area that is isolated from the rest of the hospital, which allows for a more set surgery schedule and specialized orthopedic care, Holland said.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Smith said separating patients and giving them specialized orthopedic nurses and physical therapy gives them better outcomes after their surgeries.
“This will distinguish us from every other hospital in the [Austin] community, and I operate in 13 of them,” he said. “There’s no other orthopedic wing in any other hospital that’s strictly for joint and spine.”
Holland said the surgery unit will be open Monday through Friday, and the hospital plans for surgeries to largely be scheduled Monday through Wednesday, which will give patients time to recover and return home in one or two days. Holland also said the format will allow designated nurses to work Monday through Friday without weekend work expectations.
Representatives with the hospital, Williamson County, Cedar Park elected officials and the Cedar Park Lago Vista, Leander and Liberty Hill chambers of commerce were in attendance Tuesday for a ribbon cutting on the fourth floor.
Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell, who also serves on the CPRMC’s board of trustees, said the first wing on the fourth floor was planned based on what the physicians and surgeons had said they needed for their patients.
“This has been built with what physicians said they really need, with what surgeons said they really need for their patients to have.”
“As I told Dr. Smith earlier, 'I hope you never have to operate on me, but if you do, I hope it’s here, because this is as good as it’s going to be,'” he said.
