Keck Medicine of USC has formed a strategic alliance with Surgical Care Affiliates Inc. to jointly manage surgical centers in communities throughout the greater Los Angeles area.

The announcement comes on the heels of Keck Medicine’s growth in Southern California, particularly in the San Gabriel and San Fernando communities, with its acquisition of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital last year as well as physician practices in Glendale, Bakersfield and Orange County in the last three months.

Surgical Care Affiliates is one of the country’s largest providers of specialty surgical services and a frequent partner with academic institutions. It serves as the management partner for day-to-day activities in this strategic alliance with Keck Medicine. The relationship provides a model for sustainable growth and quality health care at more affordable costs by tapping into the expertise of each organization.

Outpatient centers to open next year

The first outpatient surgical center to open under the new arrangement will be Keck Medicine of USC Surgical Center-Glendale, a multispecialty center offering endoscopy, orthopaedic and urology treatments. Several additional outpatient surgical centers are slated to open in 2015 in the Los Angeles area.

Our goal is to make access to our university-based medical experts easy and to grow USC’s reach into the community.

Thomas Jackiewicz

“By working closely in partnership with [Surgical Care] and private physicians in the community, we can quickly extend USC’s medical excellence to our growing patient base in Los Angeles County,” said Thomas Jackiewicz, CEO and senior vice president of USC Health, which oversees Keck Medicine. “Our goal is to make access to our university-based medical experts easy and to grow USC’s reach into the community.”

Shawn Sheffield, chief strategy and system development officer of Keck Medicine, said: “This alliance allows us to offer more accessible and affordable care for our patients. Teaming up with [Surgical Care] brings USC’s world-class surgical treatments to more communities in Southern California while capitalizing on the proven efficiencies that [Surgical Care] offers through its infrastructure and support.”

In addition to the new outpatient physician practices recently acquired in Bakersfield (urology), Glendale (orthopaedic surgery) and Orange County (oncology/hematology in Newport Beach and Irvine), Keck Medicine has added multispecialty outpatient clinics in downtown Los Angeles and USC Eye Institute outpatient clinics in Arcadia, Beverly Hills and Pasadena.

These sites complement USC’s multispecialty outpatient clinics already established in Beverly Hills, La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena.

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