Dr. Stephen Leffler: Outpatient surgery center is a big piece of the access puzzle

This commentary is by Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and COO of the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Every week I get calls and letters from patients who say they are waiting too long for care, especially surgical care. Often, they are right — no question. There are several reasons behind the wait times and it’s going to take work to make a dent in our access challenges, but serving our patients and ensuring they get great care is why I became a physician, so I’m deeply committed to that effort.

We know one of the solutions to improve timely access to care is construction of the outpatient surgery center in South Burlington that we have asked the Green Mountain Care Board to approve.

This isn’t a facility that would be nice to have — for the people of our region, it’s a must-have.

First, the proposed outpatient surgery center replaces our five ORs at the Fanny Allen campus with eight larger, modern ORs where — unlike the Fanny Allen — we can do more complex surgeries such as joint replacements.

Second, our population is growing and aging, which drives an increasing demand for surgeries — particularly surgeries that can be done in an outpatient surgery setting. We’re seeing this in the less-than-desirable waits that some of our patients experience today.

If current population trends continue as projected — aging throughout the region, a growing population in Chittenden and surrounding counties — by 2030, our current surgical case backlog is going to be more than 4,000 surgeries annually.

That’s 4,000 people who need care who will wait longer than they should for surgery, leave the state for care, or even worse, go completely without the care they need — with potential serious impacts to their health as a result.

While that’s the five-year projection, we feel the urgency now. Today, UVM Medical Center’s operating rooms are running at full capacity, and we are still not keeping up with our patients’ needs for surgery as quickly as we should. Every time a patient is waiting, I assure you there’s a doctor or nurse at UVM Medical Center who is concerned about them and feels it is absolutely imperative to get them in sooner.

Not only would the new center help us keep up with both highly complex and more routine needs, but it would let us do so in a way that responds to how people prefer to receive health care. Studies across the country show that the number of outpatient surgeries are increasing. Advancements in surgical fields allow more procedures to be performed outpatient, and it is more convenient for patients compared to hospital stays for the same procedures. We also know patients prefer an outpatient setting because they can return home quickly to recover in a familiar environment.

Beyond simply having enough space, construction of this facility will help us recruit, retain and train medical professionals our community sorely needs. Our learners need to train at a place that offers them time to hone their professional skills alongside our exceptional physician teachers, with access to time in modern ORs with robotic surgical resources — this is an experience that we cannot deliver to all of these learners with our current facilities.

I’m a frugal Vermonter, so I get it. As a state we want to make sure this $130 million project is justified and in the best interest of patients. Please know that we are focused on making sure the outpatient surgery center won’t drive up costs for our patients — in fact, studies show that outpatient procedures keep costs down compared to the inpatient setting, which requires a hospital stay.

We already provide advanced, high-quality care in our region. What’s clear is that our community needs more of it, and that need is growing. I say both as president of UVM Medical Center, and as someone who will someday need the excellent care provided by UVM Medical Center for myself or my family, I hope we are able to move forward with this crucial project so that all who need care will be able to access it easily and without delay.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Dr. Stephen Leffler: Outpatient surgery center is a big piece of the access puzzle .