Announcement:
Media Contacts: Gwen Chynoweth or Paul Maccabee; Maccabee Public Relations, 612-337-0087
Summit Orthopedics Announces Twin Cities Expansion Plans
Woodbury-based Orthopedics Provider to Join Practice with Institute for Low Back and Neck Care and Build New Spine and Total Joint Center of Excellence in Eagan
Woodbury, Minn., — November 2, 2015 – Summit Orthopedics (Summit), in conjunction with Bloomington-based Institute for Low Back and Neck Care (ILBNC), announced today that the practices have reached agreement to merge the two groups together. The two orthopedic healthcare providers are joining their practices to provide enhanced care for patients across the Twin Cities metro area and greater Minnesota. Together, Summit and ILBNC have approximately 720 employees. Closing is anticipated in January 2016.
“The quality and cost of our patients’ healthcare experience matters,” said Adam Berry, Summit Orthopedics CEO. “We continually look at ways to be competitive in the Twin Cities marketplace – not only by providing outstanding orthopedic care, but by ensuring affordability with innovative medical procedures and other healthcare offerings. ILBNC’s outstanding reputation as a provider of conservative spine care fits well with Summit’s mission.”
“Today’s spine care environment is fragmented by practices offering either surgical care or non-surgical care, with nothing in-between that provides a comprehensive yet responsible approach for the well-being of the patient,” explained Dr. Jack Drogt, President of Summit Orthopedics. “The goal in bringing Summit and ILBNC together is to create more integrated, multidisciplinary spine care services than what currently exists in the Twin Cities healthcare market.”
Summit Orthopedics is physician owned and is comprised of 45 physicians trained in orthopedic specialties. For nearly 30 years, Summit has provided a range of conservative and progressive care options for musculoskeletal conditions for patients across the Twin Cities. This includes prevention, surgical and non-surgical treatment, and rehabilitation. Summit employs about 650 people at 16 locations spanning the East Metro.
Dr. David Strothman of ILBNC, who will be joining Summit’s Board of Directors, added: “The philosophies of both of our organizations are well aligned. Like ILBNC, Summit has a long-standing reputation for offering high quality, conservative spine and orthopedic care. This merger will enable ILBNC to offer its current and future patients a broader range of healthcare services, across a wider geographic area, with greater resources for employee advancement and patient care.”
ILBNC was founded in 1979 and provides specialized, multidisciplinary spine care to patients with primary clinics in Plymouth and Minneapolis, 11 clinics in greater Minnesota and a surgery center in Plymouth. ILBNC’s services span evaluation and diagnosis to therapeutic procedures, minimally invasive surgery and surgical procedures. ILBNC has approximately 80 employees, including seven physicians.
All Summit and ILBNC clinics and surgery centers will remain open at their current locations. Certain employees at ILBNC’s corporate headquarters, located in Bloomington, will relocate to Summit’s Woodbury-based main office in mid-2016.
All ILBNC and Summit physicians will continue to see patients at their current clinic locations. In addition, physicians from both organizations will perform surgeries and consults at the same hospital facilities they are presently. ILBNC surgeons will also have access to Summit’s outpatient ambulatory surgery center, a center of excellence located at Summit’s Vadnais Heights location where advanced spine procedures and joint replacements are performed.
Summit to break ground on new surgery and treatment center in Eagan
In other expansion news, Summit Orthopedics has announced plans to break ground in partnership with developer MSP Commercial in Spring 2016 on a 65,000 square-foot surgery and treatment center located in Eagan.
Similar to Summit Orthopedics’ award-winning facility in Vadnais Heights, this new Eagan location will be a state-of-the-art center offering patients a full continuum of orthopedic treatment, as well as operating rooms and recovery in overnight stays in specialized “care suites” for advanced spine and total joint replacements. The suites will feature hotel-level amenities such as Wi-Fi capability, lounge seating and concierge services, yet with 25 percent less cost than a hospital stay, and dramatically reduced infection rates compared to traditional hospitals—a concept that is new to Minnesota.
Like the Vadnais Heights facility, the care suites in Eagan will be conveniently adjacent to surgery. “Patients undergoing surgery at the Eagan facility will never stay in a hospital, which reduces the cost of orthopedic surgery and improves the overall experience for those patients,” Summit CEO Adam Berry said. “Summit’s approach is unique because patients aren’t transported to an off-site building following surgery.”
The Eagan center also will provide a one-stop destination for physician consultations, advanced imaging, therapy, and bracing and orthotic needs.
Berry anticipates the new Eagan orthopedic campus will open in early 2017 and will provide many new healthcare jobs in the Twin Cities.
###
Media Note: For more information, call Gwen Chynoweth at Maccabee PR, 612-337-0087.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why are Summit and ILBNC joining practices?
The cost and quality of healthcare matters. Summit Orthopedics continually looks at ways to be competitive in the marketplace — not only by providing outstanding orthopedic care, but also through affordability with procedures and other healthcare offerings. ILBNC’s outstanding reputation as a provider of conservative spine care fits well with Summit’s mission.
Is this merger your response to the previously announced merger between Twin Cities Ortho and St. Croix Ortho?
No. Our merger with ILBNC has been a part of our long-term strategic plan for some time. In fact, it’s been in the making for the better part of two years – long before our competitors’ announcement was made public.
Will there be layoffs?
There will not be changes to staffing at any Summit location, or at ILBNC’s clinical care facilities as a result of the merger. There will be certain corporate-level employees at ILBNC whose positions will be affected over time. They will be eligible for a retention and severance package.
How much money is exchanging hands?
Since both of our organizations are privately held, we’re not at liberty to disclose that information.
What will the merger mean to the patients at Summit and ILBNC?
At Summit and ILBNC, we understand the call to reduce healthcare costs and are committed to doing what’s within our power to achieve that goal while improving outcomes and enhancing each patient’s experience. By merging our organizations, which both share a conservative approach to spine care, we expect that Twin Cities metro patients will have more convenient, cost effective options for spine care.
Will you be merging facilities, as well as practices?
All ILBNC and Summit care facilities will remain where they are. We will be remodeling Summit’s headquarters in Woodbury to make room for an expansion of administrative activities, anticipated mid-2016.
Do you plan to acquire other practices or expand in other ways?
Summit Orthopedics is excited to announce that we will be expanding our services to patients in another way in 2016. Next spring, we plan to break ground in conjunction with MSP Commercial on a 65,000 square-foot surgery and treatment center to be located in Eagan.
Similar to Summit Orthopedics’ award-winning facility in Vadnais Heights, this new Eagan location will be a state-of-the-art center offering patients a full continuum of orthopedic treatment, as well as operating rooms and recovery in overnight stays in specialized “care suites” for advanced spine and total joint replacements. The suites will feature hotel-level amenities such as Wi-Fi capability, lounge seating and concierge services, yet with 25 percent less cost than a hospital stay, and dramatically reduced infection rates compared to traditional hospitals—a concept that is new to Minnesota.