Construction is complete on the $60 million Methodist Hospital for Surgery in Addison, meaning the physician-owned facility has cleared one hurdle in a race to beat a Dec. 31 deadline for projects of its kind.

The federal health care reform, passed in March, prohibits the construction of future physician-owned hospitals. The law requires new doctor-owned facilities to be open and certified by Medicare by Dec. 31. Otherwise, they are not permitted to take part in Medicare and other federal programs that make up about half of most hospitals' revenue.

Officials at the 32-bed, 108,000-square-foot Methodist Hospital for Surgery said they're confident they will receive Medicare certification by year-end. The specialty hospital opened its doors and began seeing patients Nov. 1. Until it's certified, the hospital can't collect Medicare, but can receive private insurance and out-of-pocket payments.

The hospital, part of the Methodist Health System, accelerated construction to meet the year-end deadline. Hospital officials confirmed the facility is open, but declined to discuss the construction or other specifics until after the Medicare certification is approved.

The hospital includes seven operating rooms, 32 private patient rooms, 10 outpatient treatment rooms, an intensive-care unit, comprehensive diagnostic imaging, physical therapy and rehabilitation services. Doctors at the hospital will provide specialized surgical care for ear, nose and throat patients; spine surgery; and orthopedics. It serves inpatient and same-day surgical patients and offers inpatient and outpatient physical therapy.

The facility has upscale interior amenities, including gourmet room service for patients, free parking and wireless Internet throughout the building.
The hospital is equipped with the Medtronic O-arm surgical imaging system, optimized for use in spine and orthopedic surgeries. The O-arm provides real-time imaging of a patient's anatomy in two and three dimensions.

"The physicians at Methodist Hospital for Surgery are dedicated to providing the highest quality, compassionate care in a facility that is focused on patients who suffer from ENT, spine and orthopedic conditions," Dr. Robert Viere, chairman of the board for Methodist Hospital for Surgery, said in a statement.

Michael Arvin, Methodist Health System senior vice president and chief development officer, said in a statement that the construction could not have met the deadline without the commitment of the project's partners, including the hospital's physicians; developers Leawood, Kan.-based Nueterra Healthcare and Dallas-based SRP Medical; Dallas-based architectural firm BOKA Powell; Dallas-based contractor Rogers-O'Brien Construction; and the town of Addison.

"We are proud of the contributions from all the partners in bringing this hospital to the community," Arvin said.

Doctor-ownership has been a popular way to get hospitals built in North Texas and across the country, said Terry Fontenot, CEO of the physician-owned Texas Regional Medical Center at Sunnyvale, which opened in 2009. Fontenot is a former chief operating officer at Rockwall Hospitals Inc. and Plano-based Leland Medical Centers Corp.

Lobbyists for physician-owned facilities are working to have the restrictions against future construction and expansion of doctor-owned facilities repealed. He said the restrictions are counterproductive to one of the main goals of the health care reform law ­— increased access to quality medical care.

"Most of the new hospitals (recently) being built in the United States are physician-owned hospitals," he said. "The health care law makes ... a need for more facilities, but nobody's building."