What a year! Major St. Luke's addition has become a busy, exciting hub for patient care

On Feb. 20, 2024, a major milestone for St. Luke’s occurred when the Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine opened for patients in downtown Boise.

The 230,000-square-foot facility meets a need for a growing community and continues to exemplify St. Luke’s commitment to providing outstanding, efficient care under one roof. Soon, April 23 will mark one year since the first surgery was completed at the building’s surgery center.

We sat down with Nicole Brown, St. Luke's Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine chief operating officer, to ask her about her memories of the opening, its first year of patient care and looking ahead.

Looking back, what was the feeling like having the building open, but knowing it still was going to take some time until it was fully operational?

We opened the campus in three phases, every single one was a bit of a “hold your breath.” We opened in February with everything except the surgery center and the pharmacy. I remember a huge amount of relief, opening and doing it safely. The excitement was just incredible, but the next day, it was like, “Well, now it’s a full-court press to open these other pieces.”

Every moment was such a feeling of accomplishment — I didn’t take it in fully until last fall, when it was like, “We are finally done; we’ve gotten there.”

The opening was a major moment, but there were still some big moments ahead, is that right?

Absolutely. We nailed every benchmark. We opened on time Feb. 20, our first surgery was April 23 and extended recovery was open Oct. 1. There’s so much pride you have in so many teams to be able to make it happen. When we declared the opening day, back around November of 2023, we stuck the flag in the sand and said, “We are doing this.” And it was an ambitious timeline, and the fact we pulled it off — wow, what a year! Gratitude, excitement and relief all packaged into one.

Now that it is up and running, what is it like at COSM?

It’s busy. We opened with four operating rooms, and we’ve grown into six. We’re getting ready to expand to eight later this spring. We’ve achieved a steady state, but we’re still growing case volume, shifting more and more surgeries done in the main operating rooms into COSM. To meet that, there’s logistics and staffing. We’re performing more than 400 surgeries a month. We have between 300-400 patient visits every day, add in 100 physical therapy appointments and 80-90 advanced imagine procedures, there’s a lot of hustle and bustle, but the facility is so big, you never feel like you’re bumping up against anyone. The previous River Street surgery center could fit inside the sterile core at COSM!

It seems like a massive undertaking, but it had to be fun to see so many teams come together.

I’m so blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing team, people like (director of practice) Ben O’Neil, (project manager) Anne Lyon, (director of practice) LeiLani Treasure and (director of nursing/patient care) Kristi Bristol. These were leaders around me the entire time, each with different strengths that really came together, collaborated and communicated to pull this off. One thing I really liked was they did a “day in the life” approach, prepared teams for what daily operations would look like, what the processes would be and how we could do things efficiently. The focus on detail was just incredible.

Has anything surprised you in the last year?

The barometer of success for COSM is something that isn’t just pieces of data, it’s hearing patients, employees and visitors tell us directly how their experience was. I’ve had so many people say, “It just feels different over there.” We’ve created a culture around the experience, what we’re trying to deliver to our community, the staff that choose to work here … it’s the “COSM Way.” Those responses are the best signal that we’ve done something well. I love hearing it.

Why do you think that reception has been so positive?

The bringing together of all these related services under one roof does deliver something unique. We can underestimate how confusing it is for patients to navigate their way through the health care journey. Putting it all under one roof has eliminated one of those variables. It’s not just a building, like a home is just a house. It’s what happening inside that matters and what we’re trying to do here. It’s a beautiful building, but it’s the intentionality of communicating and collaborating between teams to deliver care that is seamless, so nothing is lost in translation for the patient. Hearing that “wow,” it means more than anything.

What’s next for COSM?

For this facility, by the end of the year, I want to move more of that outpatient volume into COSM to free up more time in the main operating rooms for other specialties. Now that we are settling more into a steady state, I think there’s an opportunity to strengthen the bonds that exist between clinics and the pharmacy and surgery center and therapy … to create the “wow” experience, to have patients guided the right way (at each step). It can always be better, and it will be by the coordinated effort of our teams. Like in a relay, the best teams, that baton never gets dropped. They don’t slow down; someone is right there to take it forward.

It's been an honor and privilege to help this facility come online. This is my dream job. I still pinch myself that I had the opportunity to be a part of this baby be born and see it grow up. It’s been a wonderful ride.