NORFOLK — Patients needing a variety of medical care ranging from primary care to women’s health to sports medicine will soon have a 42,000-square-foot, one-stop shop where they can find the services they need.
The Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center is joining forces with Bayview Physicians Group, a multi-specialty practice, to open a unique health care setting in the Harborview area of the city.
“This joint venture with Bayview medical physicians is unique,” said Todd Rauchenberger, SMOC administrator.
Bayview offices will be on the first floor of the medical building while SMOC will be on the second. An ambulatory surgery center will occupy the third floor.
“This benefits patients with a one-stop location for primary care, women’s health and other specialties, with referrals to go right upstairs to see pain, ortho and spine specialists,” Rauchenberger added.
For patients the convenience should be a time-saver, reducing time spent travelling between doctors’ offices; waiting for referrals; or absorbing the time-consuming pre- and post-surgical lag time at an acute care hospital.
The ambulatory surgery center will offer lower cost care, without overnight stays and will include general surgery as well as orthopedic surgery.
“Our patients will see a number of benefits from this partnership,” Sandy Oliver, vice president and COO of Bayview Physicians Group. “It will offer patients in the North Suffolk market easy access to obstetrics and gynecologic care, gastrointestinal services, ear, nose and throat care, cardiology and pulmonary specialties, as well as the orthopedic and surgical services offered by SMOC on site.”
SMOC and Bayview Physicians Group are independent practices, which they say will allow them to be responsive to patients’ needs, and to innovate quickly.
“Doctors are entrepreneurial and want to practice and see patients the way they want. We have a business model set so that we can grow our business, accommodate physicians and move quickly when we hear the needs of the marketplace, specifically the concerns of patients,” Rauchenberger said.
If all goes according to plan, the health center will open early next year.
