Tampa General Hospital’s Brandon Healthplex Ambulatory Surgery Center Named to Newsweek’s America’s Best List

The Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers 2022 list highlights the nation’s top ambulatory surgery centers based on quality of care, performance data, and peer recommendations. The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex ranks third in overall score and first among Florida ASCs.

Tampa, FL (Nov. 3, 2021) – Tampa General Hospital is proud to announce that The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex, located at 10740 Palm River Road in Tampa, has been named to Newsweek’s America’s Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers 2022 list. 

Newsweek partnered with data research firm Statista to analyze more than 4,600 Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) in 25 states with the most licensed ASCs. The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex ranks third in Overall Score among 470 ASCs recognized on the list and ranks first in Florida among those 45 spotlighted ASCs. These rankings and the overall score are significant increases for The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex, which was recognized on Newsweek’s inaugural America’s Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers 2021 list.

Newsweek’s 2022 list highlights the nation’s top ambulatory surgery centers based on surgical center quality of care, ASC performance data, and peer recommendations compared to other ambulatory surgery centers in their state. The ranking is based on surveys conducted from July to September 2021.  Newsweek also invited medical experts, including nursing assistants, registered nurses, therapists, doctors, surgeons, administration, and staff working in ASCs and additional experts from all over the U.S., to assess how well ASCs handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex opened in April 2017 as a multispecialty surgical center specializing in all types of outpatient surgical procedures to include the following specialties: urology, gastroenterology, neurology/spine, orthopedics, general surgery, ophthalmology, pain management, podiatry, plastic surgery, and oncology.  The ASC offers:

• Six operating rooms
• Two procedural suites
• 24 pre- and post-procedure bays
• 13-bed post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)

“We are extremely honored to be recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s best Ambulatory Surgery Centers for 2022,” said Adam Smith, executive vice president and Chief Ambulatory Officer with Tampa General Hospital. “Providing world-class quality and outcomes, ensuring the safety of our patients, and focusing on personalized care are all vital goals for our center every day. We are proud to serve our community at a nationally recognized level and we’re humbled to rank first in Florida on this distinguished list.  I am proud of our world-class team of clinicians and physician partners who made this possible.” 

The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex is fully accredited through the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. (AAAHC). As an accredited organization, The Surgery Center at TGH Brandon Healthplex has met nationally recognized standards for the provision of quality health care set by AAAHC and is distinguished from other health care facilities through its adherence to rigorous standards of care and safety. 

“Ambulatory surgical centers have become a big part of American medicine. These are facilities where patients can have specific surgical procedures that usually don't require them to be hospitalized, meaning you can have the operation and then be back home quickly, often the same day,” said Newsweek Global Editor in Chief Nancy Cooper. “We hope these trustworthy, carefully vetted rankings of America's Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers help you make choices with confidence,” she added.

The Ranking is based on the Overall Score of each facility, which is based on the Reputation Score, including three sub-scores for recommendations, quality and the handling of the situation regarding COVID-19 (as of September 2021). The ranking is also based on the KPI Data Score, which considers the following five measures:

• Percentage of patients 50 to 75 years of age receiving a screening colonoscopy without biopsy or polypectomy who had a recommended follow-up interval of at least 10 years for repeat colonoscopy documented in their colonoscopy report
• Percentage of patients 18 years or older who had cataract surgery and had improvement in the visual function achieved within 90 days following the cataract surgery, based on completing a pre-operative and post-operative visual function survey
• The Facility 7-Day Risk-Standardized Hospital Visit Rate after Outpatient Colonoscopy Measure, now referred to as the colonoscopy measure, estimates a facility-level rate of risk-standardized, all-cause, unplanned hospital visits within seven days of an outpatient colonoscopy among Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) patients 65 years or older
• Normothermia outcome – This measure is used to assess the percentage of patients having surgical procedures under general or neuraxial anesthesia of 60 minutes or more in duration who are normothermic – or having a body temperature within normal limits – within 15 minutes of arrival in PACU
• Unplanned anterior vitrectomy – this measure is used to assess the percentage of cataract surgery patients who have an unplanned anterior vitrectomy

Additionally, experts from all over the U.S. were able to participate in the survey of the Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers in the U.S. on newsweek.com. All data was collected by Newsweek and data research firm Statista during the survey period from July to September 2021. Self-recommendation was not possible (e.g., a recommendation of the ambulatory surgery centers someone worked for was not counted in the evaluation).

Thousands of medical experts were asked to recommend up to five ambulatory surgery centers in their respective home state or a state they are familiar with if the home state is not one of the 25 included states. Additionally, participants were asked to rank quality, differentiating among these variables:

• Management in times of the COVID-19 crisis (e.g., safety of residents and hygiene measures)
• Management of waiting time (e.g., appointments) 
• Quality of surgery preparations (e.g., consultation with doctor, information)
• Quality of surgical care (e.g., procedure)
• Quality of follow-up care (e.g., physical therapies)
  
  

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, a 1,041-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region’s only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 Best Hospitals, and one of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. The academic medical center’s commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious 2021 Forbes magazine rankings – America’s Best Employers by State, third out of 100 Florida companies and first among health care and social organizations and 13th nationally in America’s Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal 2020 provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation’s busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital’s footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track.  As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost.  For more information, go to www.tgh.org.