Members of Eastland SurgiCenter, Bloomington, and Bloomington-Normal Healthcare Surgery Center in Normal, will merge to create a combined outpatient surgery center.

“The goal of the combined organization is to provide improved delivery of care and service, creating centers of excellence,” said Dr. Edward Colloton, executive director of Bloomington-Normal Healthcare Surgery Center. “We can come together to form a more efficient and cohesive group, eliminating duplication of services and equipment, with long term sustainability for the community.”

The two outpatient facilities came to the realization both can work together to strengthen common goals in clinical excellence, providing superior care to patients. The combined business will allow the opportunity for growth and to look at additional services and procedures.

“Efficiency and quality is the focus of the resulting organization,” said John Zell, Chairman of the Managing Board at Eastland SurgiCenter. “This shall in turn have a positive impact on the clinical and business aspects of ambulatory surgical care. Hopefully, each organization will merge only their strong points to create a more powerful new entity.”

Both organizations have negotiated a non-binding letter of intent to explore the feasibility of Eastland SurgiCenter and Bloomington-Normal Healthcare Surgery Center, transitioning to one combined business. Once finalized, the new organization will become a partnership between OSF St. Joseph Medical Center and over 35 independent community physicians, forming the largest outpatient surgery center in the Region.

Both facilities specialize in providing surgery, and diagnostic services, in an outpatient setting to families and physicians in Bloomington-Normal and the surrounding communities.

Current agreements regarding confidentiality do not allow either organization to comment further at this time.

Eastland SurgiCenter is a 16,219-square-foot multi-specialty outpatient surgery center, located in Eastland Medical Plaza I, adjacent to OSF St. Joseph Medical Center. The surgery center has four operating rooms, four endoscopy rooms, and performs approximately 7,500 procedures each year. It is a joint venture of OSF St. Joseph Medical Center and 24 physician owners.

Bloomington-Normal Healthcare Surgery Center is a full-service outpatient surgical facility, located at 2100 Ft. Jesse Road, Normal, Illinois. The highly trained, caring individuals provide direct patient care in pre-op, operating room, and recovery settings. The surgery center is a partnership between independent physicians and OSF Saint Francis, Inc.