Lutheran Health Network held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday celebrating the opening of The Orthopedic Hospital – Warsaw Surgery Center, 701 Orthopedic Drive, Warsaw. Pictured (L to R) are Merrilee Dirickson, Zimmer Biomet associate director; Bryan Hanson, Zimmer Biomet CEO; Mark Medley, Community Health Systems regional president; Shelly Miller, CEO, Fort Wayne Orthopedics; Dr. David Feaker, orthopedic surgeon, Fort Wayne Orthopedics; Dr. Phillip Penny, Fort Wayne Orthopedics; Lorie Ailor, The Orthopedic Hospital CEO; Lynn Mergen, Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital CEO; Marielle Lael, chief nursing officer, The Orthopedic Hospital; Rob Parker, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce CEO; and John Teevan, Grace College.

Text and Photos
By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — The Orthopedic Hospital – Warsaw Surgery Center is the first in Indiana to be outfitted with Zimmer Biomet’s Omni Suite.

The intelligent operating room that uses advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, was highlighted Thursday, July 13, during Lutheran Health Network’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of surgery center, 701 Orthopedic Drive, Warsaw. Tours of the facility also were offered before and after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Mark Medley, regional president of Community Health Systems, the parent company of Lutheran Health Network, welcomed everyone to Thursday’s celebration.

Zimmer Biomet CEO Bryan Hanson speaks Thursday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of The Orthopedic Hospital – Warsaw Surgery Center, 701 Orthopedic Drive, Warsaw. The ambulatory surgery center is the first in Indiana to be outfitted with Warsaw-based Zimmer Biomet’s Omni Suite.

“Today, we gather for an important celebration regarding a truly transformative development for this community,” he said.

At a community meeting about four years ago, Medley said it was suggested that LHN consider building upon the region’s position as the Orthopedic Capital of the World and elevate its orthopedic service line to a higher level.

“Today, I’m happy to share that we have done just that,” he said before thanking a number of people.

Lorie Ailor, The Orthopedic Hospital CEO, stated, “It is really an important day for The Orthopedic Hospital and we’re so happy to now be a part of Kosciusko County community.”

In explaining who The Orthopedic Hospital is, she said, “We help, we serve. This is our purpose. Putting our patients first and providing compassionate, connected care, every patient every time is the core of who we are. As a specialty hospital, we are solely focused on orthopedics and able to standardized the care we deliver. This campus is a result of that focus and it is designed to be a comprehensive setting for patients’, outpatients’ orthopedic needs.”

The outpatient surgery center is equipped with three state-of-the-art operating rooms, she said. The rooms feature cameras equipped with artifical intelligence (object recognition) capturing key workflow steps, touch screen monitors that display vital information available at the surgeon’s fingertips, smart tourniquets that adjust to patients’ unique biometrics to provide personalized pressure and smart knee implant technology that allows surgeons to view patients’ post-surgical progress, according to a news release from LHN.

Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital CEO Lynn Mergen speaks Thursday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of The Orthopedic Hospital – Warsaw Surgery Center, 701 Orthopedic Drive, Warsaw.

Ailor talked about how stays in the hospital after orthopedic surgery have been greatly reduced to where a patient may be discharged on the same day of surgery.

“This is achieveable due to the skill of our surgeons and staff, the technological advancements, as well as our PACE (preoperative assessment and clearance process) clinic,” Ailor said.

After surgery, patients also have 24/7 access to a registered nurse with extensive orthopedic experience who helps guide the patient through recovery once they are home, she stated.

Seeking out innovative treatments is also a priority for The Orthopedic Hospital and its partners, she said.

“As a result, we were first in the region to do the anterior hip approach, outpatient joint replacements, orthopedic robotic surgery … so partnering with Zimmer Biomet only makes sense for us as another first. We are the first in Indiana to have Zimmer Biomet’s Omni Suite O.R. Integration technology,” Ailor said.

Zimmer Biomet CEO Bryan Hanson said there were three major reasons why he was very excited to represent ZB at the ceremony.

One, he said, is, “We kind of look at Warsaw and Zimmer Biomet as almost synonymous. We truly do feel like we are an ingrained part of this community, and as a result of that, we want to make sure we’re doing more every day to be a bigger part of this community. And I can’t see any way to better do that than to be a partner, a part of, even if it’s just a small part, of opening a surgery center – I think a world-class surgery center – right here in Warsaw, Indiana, our home. So I’m super excited about that.”

The Orthopedic Hospital CEO Lorie Ailor speaks Thursday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of The Orthopedic Hospital – Warsaw Surgery Center, 701 Orthopedic Drive, Warsaw.

Another reason is that Zimmer Biomet is a “extremely mission-centric organization. I can tell you that’s what we lead with when we talk about the company.”

Hanson said they alleviate pain and improve the lives of people around the world.

“We are passionate about moving that mission forward,” he stated, adding that a lot of people are not getting the care that they should. A lot of people are fearful about getting a procedure so they live in pain. “We think there’s a few things we can focus on to make that change.”

The first is to make the patient more confident in the outcome of the procedure.

“We believe that technology can make people feel more comfortable or confident getting that procedure,” Hanson said.

The second is that they believe sites like the Warsaw Surgery Center will increase the comfort level that patients have to come in and get a procedure.

The third is convenience because everyone is busy.

Dr. Phillip Penny, Fort Wayne Orthopedics, said it was obviously a special day and he’s been waiting for almost seven years.

“This is one of the promises the group made to me and the community, that we would have this one day and it’s finally here,” he said. “We couldn’t ask for better partners. Now we finally have, basically, one stop orthopedic destination – a one-stop shop – for everything orthopedics. What better than right here in the Orthopedic Capital of the World.”

Inside the building is “amazing technology that you’re not going to see anywhere else in the world,” Penny said, listing the Omni Suite among other technology.

“I’d like to give thanks to the community of Warsaw for allowing Fort Wayne Orthopedics really to trust us to take care of everyone. I hope we’re doing a good job and we continue to do that and we look forward to doing that for a long time to come,” he said.

Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Parker talked about innovation in the community which resulted in things like the Chamber, airport, many nonprofits and more.

“But here today, what you see behind me, is just absolutely incredible technology that will advance our community even further than it’s ever done before. This technology at the surgery center at The Orthopedic Hospital is incredible, and it’s right here in the Orthopedic Capital of the World,” he said.

The final speaker for the ceremony before the ribbon-cutting was Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital CEO Lynn Mergen.

“This is Lorie and her team’s day and it’s a great day,” he said. “… I just wanted to say that I’ve been fortunate enough to work for a number of health systems over the years, and I am really impressed with the Lutheran Health Network’s commitment to this community. From the $30 million expansion at the hospital to today’s celebration, from the opening of this new ambulatory surgery center, it’s just been a tremendous partnership with this area.”

The 13,800-square-foot facility caps off the completion of a fully-integrated campus dedicated to orthopedic care and rehabilitation, according to the news release. The surgery center, which will focus on joint replacement and other outpatient orthopedic surgeries and procedures, is adjacent to Optimum Performance Therapy, Fort Wayne Orthopedics’ medical offices and OrthoStat walk-in clinic.

The opening of The Orthopedic Hospital – Warsaw Surgery Center comes on the heels of LHN’s announcement of a $30 million renovation and expansion project at Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, which also includes enhancements to the surgical suite, the release states.