McLaren Oakland Partners With Surgical Affiliates In Forging a Path For Continued Excellence
Like other mid-sized hospitals across the U.S., McLaren Oakland, a 328-bed medical center in Pontiac, Michigan, was at a crossroads of how best to continue providing the highest level of emergency surgical coverage to patients. Serving the growing communities in greater Pontiac and Oakland County, McLaren Oakland, a Level II-verified trauma center and one of the country’s largest osteopathic teaching hospitals, wanted to ensure continued excellence in providing emergency surgical services to patients that would also help to differentiate their facility from other area providers. “Although we had a loosely affiliated group of excellent, committed surgeons providing trauma coverage for several years, it became important that we establish a cohesive, in-house trauma program that was accessible to patients 24/7,” says McLaren Oakland CMO and Vice President of Medical Affairs Steven Calkin, D.O.
Aware that Surgical Affiliates Management Group was providing acute care and trauma surgical services to McLaren Northern Michigan, one of 14 hospitals within the McLaren Health Care network, Dr. Calkin and McLaren Oakland President and CEO Margaret Dimond, Ph.D., began discussions with Surgical Affiliates to learn how the company could provide an in-house team of fellowship-trained acute care and trauma surgeons supported by Surgical Affiliates’ depth of expertise in emergency surgical care. “We began to envision what our trauma service could look like when handled by a professional team of surgeons dedicated to taking care of trauma and acute care surgical patients around the clock,” Dr. Calkin recalls. Based on these pivotal discussions with Surgical Affiliates President and CEO Lynette Scherer, M.D., FACS, and her colleagues, McLaren Oakland began a partnership with Surgical Affiliates to provide an enhanced array of surgical services to patients entering the Emergency Department, including 24/7 acute care and trauma services as well as a fully staffed follow-up clinic to provide post-discharge care to patients.
