Surgery caseloads rising at both hospitals
University Hospital reported an all-time high of 720 cases in January.
USA Health has experienced a 29 percent increase in surgery cases from calendar year 2018 to 2019, with University Hospital’s caseload hitting an all-time high of 720 for January 2020, according to the surgery department.
For fiscal 2020 so far, cases are up by 31 percent at University Hospital and more than 3 percent at Children’s & Women’s Hospital.
According to William Richards, M.D., professor and chair of surgery, this increase can be attributed to multiple factors. In the last year, the surgery department has increased the number of surgeons, including adding a group of urologists performing urology cases that had not been available previously at USA Health.
The surgery department has also increased the number of cases each surgeon is performing due to the increasing recognition of the high quality of care delivered at USA Health and the recruitment of board-certified specialists who have created centers of excellence in cancer treatment in specific areas such as melanoma, and rectal, breast, gastrointestinal and endocrine cancers.
“Expanding our services means that we can optimally meet the surgical needs of the patients of Mobile and the surrounding areas,” said Michael Chang, M.D., chief medical officer for USA Health. “It also provides a more comprehensive teaching environment for our students and residents because they’ve got more opportunities to see different types of cases as well as more cases overall.”
The increases can also be attributed to the addition of robotic surgery cases with the purchase of the Xi robot in 2018. Robotic surgery has enabled surgeons to perform increasingly complex procedures in a minimally invasive fashion, which has reduced hospital stays, decreased post-op pain and recovery times. Outpatient procedures are also a part of the increase in surgery cases in the last year.
“The investment that we have made in outpatient surgery suites and the increase in outpatient surgery is allowing our elective business to grow and bring new patients into our health system,” said Mike Zang, director of peri-operative services at USA Health.
