San Antonio Vascular and Endovascular Clinic is building a state-of-the-art surgical center — the first of its kind on the city’s South Side.
Dr. Lyssa Ochoa, founder and CEO of the medical practice, says the center is scheduled to open this spring.
Once completed, the Mission Surgery Center at 601 E. Amber St. will be the city’s only Medicare-accredited ambulatory surgery center south of downtown.
The 10,500-square-foot surgery center will cost an estimated $2.25 million to build, according to state filings.
“I’m hoping this is just the beginning, and others will see that there are opportunities for prosperity in these areas. As health care leaders, we have to set the example,” she said.
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Ochoa says her patients’ only option for outpatient surgeries currently is to go to Southwest General Hospital or Mission Trail Baptist Hospital, which posed a problem when the coronavirus crisis caused hospitals to postpone nonemergency surgeries.
“Patients had nowhere to go,” she said, adding that the situation highlighted the lack of health care infrastructure and investment in underserved parts of the city. “This is something the South Side desperately needs.”
The board-certified surgeon specializes in treating diseases of the arteries and veins and saw how diabetic amputations disproportionately affected the city’s urban core and South Side communities. She opened up her independent practice in February 2018 to try to help residents with historically poor access to health care.
Metro Health estimates 15.5 percent of Bexar County adults have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
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Many of Ochoa’s patients also suffer from peripheral arterial disease, which is a chronic condition that prevents sufficient blood flow to a patient’s legs and arms.
Her practice operates four locations throughout the city, as well as in Pleasanton and Floresville.
“We would like to treat them before (a problem) gets so bad that they need hospitalization,” she said.
In addition to amputation-prevention procedures, the Mission Surgery Center will handle several types of procedures including orthopedics, eye surgery, plastic surgery, general surgery, cardiology and pain management.
“We strategically placed the surgery center in the middle of the South Side because we’re hoping to make it more amenable for patients to get there,” she said.
Currently, outpatient surgery centers are concentrated in northern sections of the metro area.
Surgeries at such centers tend to be cheaper for both patients and insurance companies, according to the federal Medicare.gov website, which compares the average out-of-pocket cost for patients.
A leg amputation costs $666 at a hospital’s outpatient surgical department, while a patient who goes to an ambulatory surgical center pays on average $376.
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The Medicare program and its beneficiaries save more than $2.3 billion each year when patients receive certain preventive and surgical procedures at such surgical centers instead of other facilities such as hospital outpatient departments.
The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association’s review of commercial medical-claims data found that U.S. health care costs are reduced by more than $38 billion per year due to the availability of ambulatory surgery centers.
This means employers incur lower health care costs and patients may pay less on deductibles and coinsurance payments.
laura.garcia@express-news.net
Laura Garcia covers the health care industry. To read more from Laura, become a subscriber. laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura
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September 09, 2020 at 04:00PM
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