There are several ways we identify and cultivate new projects. The method with the highest success ratio is through referrals from friends and partners. Three years ago, Dr. Rob Welti, Regent’s Medical Director and Senior Vice President, Operations, suggested we meet the law partner of a childhood friend from New York, who had been a resident of Juneau, Alaska for more than 20 years. As an attorney, he represented a landlord in Anchorage who held a condominium interest in a building that formerly housed a surgery center. We at Regent really enjoy developing projects in “interesting” markets and had always wanted to manage a facility in this area. We first arrived in Anchorage to meet a number of physicians in the middle of winter, 2007 to learn more about the closed facility and if and how we could “reinvent” it to make it a successful physician owned and controlled surgical center. We found a vacant building that was in disrepair, but owned by a group of physicians eager to open it again to service patients in the Anchorage area. The building was virtually trashed and the owners had lost their surgery center when their tenant vacated. Among the owners there were few practicing physicians and no surgeons. This was not a very promising prospect. Later we learned that there were numerous surgeons in the community who wanted to belong to a surgical center to provide more efficient and focused surgical options for their patients than what was available currently. However, there were few opportunities due to very restrictive Certificate of Need requirements for ambulatory surgery centers in Alaska. With only 750,000 people in the entire state, there are few places for patients to have surgery, except hospitals and just a few physician owned ASCs. I decided to talk to and meet with numerous key surgeons in Anchorage who already were partners in the few surgery centers that existed, and I identified a couple of small centers that might want to expand or sell their interests. Unfortunately, after spending significant time valuing their businesses, we were unable to proceed. Then in 2008, I learned that a GYN practice had an ambulatory surgery center license and were possibly interested in moving it to another location. After researching the State regulations, we learned that the license could be transferred to a new address in the local area. We collectively consulted with a national firm who specializes in providing fair market assessments of the cost of the ASC license. They had completed significant work in Alaska and were able to determine the market value for this prospect. The large medical group and Regent agreed on the purchase price and I and other Regent executives went to work talking to the medical community to learn of their interest in joining us in this exciting project. After five months of activity, 13 additional surgeons joined Regent to partner with the existing GYN group and we joined the existing ASC company. During the spring of 2009, we searched the market for possible locations. With winter looming, we realized that building a new facility would take the better part of two years, and we would not be able to start construction until April of 2010. However, by gutting and rebuilding the former ASC facility, we knew we could open before the end of 2010. We are proud to announce that on December 6, 2010, the Surgery Center of Anchorage (SCoA) opened and treated its first patient. SCoA is a state-of-the-art full service surgery center with two Operating Rooms, plus a dedicated GI suite and Pain Suite. Initially, the Surgery Center of Anchorage will be providing services in the following specialties: GYN, General Surgery, Colo Rectal, ENT, Pain and Urology. “Over 2 years ago my OB-GYN group, which held an ambulatory surgical license, decided to partner with an experienced corporate ASC management company to enhance our center” said Carol Mitchell-Springer, MD, President, Board of Directors, Surgery Center of Anchorage. “We explored many different models and eventually chose Regent Surgical Health for their experience, reputation, great references and partnership model. With Regent’s outstanding help my 18 physician partners and I are proud to be opening a beautiful, state-of-the-art surgical center which will provide patients with the best outpatient medical care available in Anchorage, Alaska.” Anchorage now becomes the most northern city within Regent’s “family” of surgery centers nationwide. We will soon announce our expansion into south Florida, as well as additional facilities in California, Illinois and Texas. While most of our new developments include hospitals as integral partners, Surgery Center of Anchorage is solely owned by local surgeons who live and practice full-time in Anchorage. For information about the Anchorage project or to inquire about other pending developments or acquisitions, please contact me at jsimmons@regentsh.com.