F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 1 7
NorthShore University HealthSystem
(NorthShore) acquired Skokie (Ill.) Hospital in
2009 and continued to operate the facility as a
general community hospital until April 2019,
when it shifted its focus to orthopedic and spine
specialties. Last year, the Orthopaedic & Spine
Institute opened The NorthShore Spine Center at
Skokie Hospital, bringing all of the group's spine
specialists under one roof to treat spine condi-
tions and complex back issues.
That change followed a $350 million invest-
ment over the last 10 years at the Skokie cam-
pus. "We currently have 12 operating rooms
dedicated to orthopedic and spine care, and
three pain procedure
rooms," says Skokie
Hospital President David
Rahija. "In addition, we have
eight more operating rooms
dedicated to orthopedic and
spine care being built and
scheduled to come online by
January 2022."
As the only specialty
hospital in Illinois focused
on orthopedic and spine
conditions, the NorthShore
Orthopaedic & Spine
Institute made sure its 10
active neurosurgery and
orthopedic spine surgeons had the cutting-
edge technology they need to deliver the best
outcomes. Here's what they are currently
using as well as the approximate price tag for
each item:
•Spine
tables (seven) $150,000 each
• Wilson frames (five) $5,000 each
• Mayfield head positioner (two) $100,000 each
• C-arms (eight) $200,000 each
• Surgical microscopes (three) $500,000 each
• O-arm (three) $2,000,000 each
• Stealth navigation (four) $250,000 each, and
• Robots (two) $1,500,000 each.
—Danielle Bouchat-Friedman
to have the right layout and house all of the neces-
sary equipment, says Clint Devin, MD, an orthope-
dic spine surgeon with SOSI. Then, there was the
timing issue. SOSI opened in July of last year, right
in the middle of the pandemic. The timing wasn't
as bad as you'd imagine. "Because we were less
busy clinically due to the pause in elective care,
the pandemic allowed us additional time to focus
on the renovations, restructuring and equipment,
and get the regulatory requirements in place," says
Dr. Devin.
Surgeon input
Regardless of whether you're creating a brand-new
spine center from scratch or renovating an existing
space, this much is always true: Physician participa-
tion is paramount. Dr. Devin participated in every
step of SOSI's birth, even while he was still working
as an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and
neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville,
where he performed over 4,500 spine surgeries. "We
wanted to make sure we understood what his calls
were, what he was expecting from us and what we
FULLY LOADED The NorthShore Orthopaedic & Spine Institute is filled with state-of-the-art equipment, including eight C-arms.
BY THE NUMBERS
Tools of a Top-Notch Spine Center
Jon
Hillenbrand,
NorthShore
