Manteca could have a state-of-the-art outpatient surgical center by early 2016.
Tenet Healthcare is preparing to make a decision on whether to proceed with a $6.7 million outpatient surgical clinic in an existing vacant building next to the Imaging Center and Central Valley Cancer Center on Norman Drive off of Spreckels Avenue.
It would fit into an ongoing strategy to position Doctors Hospital to offer a wide repertoire of services that fit into most insurance plans for the growing Manteca-Ripon-Lathrop community.
The 6,000-square-foot building would include three operating rooms and two procedure rooms.
The center, if built, would free up the existing operating rooms at the main hospital campus at North Street and Cottage Avenue for inpatient procedures. It also is expected to shorten the time as well to book an outpatient procedure.
Doctors Hospital experienced a 32 percent jump in outpatient procedures in 2014. Three months into 2015 and the hospital is already on pace to match or top last year’s gain in outpatient procedures.
There were 3,400 surgeries performed last year at the hospital. That is in addition to 32,000 outpatient procedures, 33,000 emergency room visits, and 3,600 admissions.
Doctors Hospital Chief Executive Officer Nico Tejeda confirmed this week that a decision is imminent.
If the project gets a green light, Tejeda said it would be up and running in 12 months.
Tejeda noted such a center would benefit physicians and patients alike in terms of convenience. He noted just this past weekend a scheduled outpatient procedure had to be cancelled at the last minute because the operating room at the hospital was needed for a C-section.
Parking would also be easier to access in the medical office complex in Spreckels Park. It would offer the same convenience for patents that the existing imaging center does allowing them to avoid having to go to the hospital.
Doctors Hospital currently performs a wide array of outpatient surgery including bariatric surgery for weight loss. It is the only hospital in the Central Valley to do so. They also are the only hospital in the area offering laser cataract surgery and MAKOplasty knee surgery.
Tenet invested $2.7 million in capital expenditures in Doctors Hospital of Manteca last year.
