HOUSTON, Aug. 6, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- SurgiCare, Inc. (AMEX:SRG), a Houston-based Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) provider, announced today that it is breaking ground on the company's fifth multi-purpose surgery center. Construction of the new center, located in the Park Cities area of University Park in Dallas, Texas, will begin today. The 39,900 square foot medical plaza, which will include both the Park Cities SurgiCare surgery center and a medical office building, is expected to be fully operational by late summer 2002. The new construction is SurgiCare's second joint venture with Cirrus Health Services, Inc.
The new construction will take the number of SurgiCare's centers to five, representing a 500% growth from a year ago. This is a direct result of SurgiCare's systematic strategy to consolidate the ambulatory surgical center market by both developing and acquiring centers. The centers under SurgiCare's management benefit form strong management and the economies of scale, enabling them to operate more profitably. The company's acquired centers also reap the same benefits, but SurgiCare's unique business model goes one step beyond by letting each center's physicians continue to play both minority owner and management roles. This means that needs of the company's shareholders, management and its physician owners are all addressed, which has allowed the company's centers to continue operating profitably after acquisition.
"Things are moving very quickly right now for SurgiCare," said Dr. David Blumfield, CEO of SurgiCare Inc. "Our move to partner with Cirrus is proving to be a lucrative one. The Park Cities SurgiCare center is just the latest example of how we have been able to capitalize on our unique business plan to build SurgiCare into a major force in the ASC industry. We fully expect to continue building on this progress as we seek out even more profitable acquisitions and joint venture opportunities."
SurgiCare's new 12,700 square foot center will be the company's largest to date. It will have four full operating rooms, two procedure rooms and eight recovery beds. This surgery center will bring the number of ASCs under SurgiCare's management umbrella to five. It is the second ASC SurgiCare will develop and operate with Cirrus Health Services.
In April of this year, SurgiCare first announced that it had formed a joint-venture partnership with Cirrus, a builder of medical office buildings. The agreement calls for SurgiCare to develop and manage co-owned ASCs within Cirrus' growing list of specialty medical buildings. As Cirrus Health Services continues building new facilities, the SurgiCare teams will complete the development of each of the surgical centers, and oversee their management and operations. This partnership has expanded SurgiCare's business model beyond traditional mergers and acquisitions, providing SurgiCare with an affordable equity interest in each center, and a lucrative new avenue for generating increasing revenues.
"We are extremely pleased that our partnership with Cirrus is working out so well and that we have broken ground on our newest, and largest center yet," added Charles Cohen, COO of SurgiCare Inc. "We are in the process of growing our management team to accommodate our rapid growth. At the rate we are adding new centers, and with our recent listing on the American Stock Exchange, we need to grow our infrastructure in order to maintain our efficiency. We have been working hard to find and attract the type of like-minded professionals we'll need to fuel our continued success. Our recent hiring of Robert Horn as our CFO shows that we are very serious about having the best possible team in place as we move full steam ahead into our next phase of growth. We know that it will take winners to successfully operate a company that has some of the nation's top outpatient surgery facilities."
About Cirrus
Privately held, The Cirrus Group. L.L.C. (Cirrus) specializes in the development of medical office buildings and ancillary healthcare operations. Having offices in Dallas and Houston, The Cirrus Group currently owns and operates various commercial properties including eight medical office buildings and five traditional office buildings. An affiliate of Cirrus, Cirrus Health Services also owns and operates three rehabilitation centers, has one ASC in operation, and has started development on a second ASC, with two more buildings under construction. Cirrus recruits physicians and surgeons to establish medical practices in its buildings to deliver a more comprehensive healthcare system. Many times, these doctors become part owners of the building and perform procedures in its ASCs.
About SurgiCare, Inc.
SurgiCare, Inc. offers licensed, freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Centers for use by physicians and its physician partners and their patients. Freestanding refers to the fact that the facilities are physically and organizationally independent from a hospital. Ambulatory Surgery means surgical procedures that do not require overnight hospitalization after the surgery. The ASCs are run under the guidance of a committee of physician partners. SurgiCare's goal is to grow through mergers, acquisitions, and turnkey management contracts in conjunction with physician-involved supervision and potential equity participation within a public company model. SurgiCare has assembled a team of highly qualified industry professionals that are equipped to effectively manage multiple ASCs, essentially cutting operational costs and increasing profit margins. For more information on SurgiCare, please visit the company's Website at www.surgicareinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of SurgiCare, Inc. (the Company) to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risk factors contained in the Company's Annual Reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, description of anyone's past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the Company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.
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CONTACT: SurgiCare, Inc., Houston
Charles S. Cohen
(713) 665-1406