Our 655 Park Ambulatory Surgery Unit is a state-of-the-art facility that provides the safety of a hospital in the setting of a private office. Over 10,000 surgical procedures have been safely performed since inception.
Advantages
Two advantages of an office operating facility are having more limited patient flow and complete control of the unit. Both facilitate maintaining a germ free environment that prevents resistant bacteria from emerging, a problem sometimes seen in hospital settings. Additionally, having the same staff every day promotes efficiency and high quality care delivery. Equally important, Dr. Hidalgo is free to take extra time as needed without any institutional pressures. This ensures the best result for our patients. As an aside, our office has full access New York-Presbyterian Hospital located five blocks away, where Dr. Hidalgo has admitting privileges.
Accreditation
Our facility was built by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to standards exceeding those specified by most ambulatory surgery accreditation organizations. Our facility meets or exceeds standards specified by OSHA, and the Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). It was accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, Inc. (AAAASF) in 2002 and has been recertified every three years since.
Staffing
We only employ certified health care professionals of the highest caliber. Our anesthesiologists are board certified physicians. Our nursing staff includes three full-time registered nurses, all who maintain ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certification.
Design and Equipment
Operating room design was supervised by architects from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. An important design feature includes a twin industrial capacity heating and air-conditioning system that provides built-in redundancy. Each unit can change the air in the operating room completely every two minutes, greatly reducing infection risk compared to hospital capability. Additionally, the operating room alone occupies 270 square feet, a very large size by city standards, and on par with many hospitals. There is an elaborate fire alarm system regularly inspected by the FDNY, and a high capacity emergency generator capable of powering the entire surgical suite for over 24 hours, far exceeding accreditation requirements.
Our equipment is regularly upgraded to the highest standards. We employ operating table warmers, mechanical calf compression devices, and the most advanced anesthesia monitoring equipment available. The operating suite was designed to provide a soothing environment as well as a safe one. The engineers double lined walls to insulate the recovery room from extraneous noise, for example, and a top decorating firm was employed to lend a warm residential feel to the medical environment.
Expense
It is necessary to charge a fee for use of the facility. The type of procedure and its duration determines the charge. It is typically less than what a hospital would charge and there is no balance billing should the procedure take longer than estimated.
