University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) on Monday announced it has opened Colony Park North, an approximately 131,000-square-foot campus in Ridgeland, Miss., that includes a medical office building, ambulatory surgery facility, advanced imaging services and an education space, as well as numerous clinics that focus on various surgical specialties.
In announcing the new campus, UMMC led with the fact that it is “expanding access to specialty surgical care in the Jackson (Miss.) metro area” with the opening of what it calls a “new hospital outpatient facility designed to make surgical and clinical services more accessible.”
The clinics are currently opening in phases, and the first surgeries on the campus are scheduled for Mar. 31.
“The new location represents UMMC’s continued effort to meet patients where they are — reducing travel, simplifying appointments and improving access to specialized care,” states UMMC.
“By moving appropriate outpatient services into a facility designed specifically for them, we can improve scheduling, reduce wait times and create a better overall experience for patients and families while keeping the main hospital focused on complex and emergent care,” said Alan Jones, MD, UMMC’s associate vice chancellor for health affairs, who spoke of “delivering the right care in the right setting.”
Dr. Jones added, “This facility represents the future of how many services will be delivered. As Mississippi’s academic medical center, UMMC must continually evolve how we deliver care. Colony Park North allows us to expand access to specialized services while also supporting education and innovation in new models of outpatient care.”
The building features two wings connected by a central lobby entrance with a covered drop-off area for patients. Its one-story ambulatory surgery facility, which features six ORs and two procedure rooms, is located on the right side of the entrance, while a three-story medical office building is to the left.
An operating room at UMMC's Colony Park North facility | Joe Ellis/UMMC Communications
On-site support services include a full-service laboratory, preoperative testing, postoperative clinics, occupational and physical therapy, pharmacy services and sterile processing. Diagnostic imaging capabilities in the building will include MRI, PET, CT, X-ray and ultrasound, “allowing many patients to complete consultations, testing and procedures in one location,” stated UMMC.
Specialty clinics on site will include cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, dermatology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology and plastic surgery. The cardiology clinic opened today, according to UMMC, with the orthopedic and plastic surgery clinics opening on Feb. 23, and additional clinics opening throughout the spring. “Ophthalmology, gastroenterology, dermatology and otolaryngology are expected to begin seeing patients in April,” noted UMMC.
UMMC said parking will be convenient and ingress and egress from the facility will be “easy” for patients. A shuttle bus stop connects the campus to UMMC’s main medical center, and a coffee shop is slated to open in the building next month.
“The opening of the Colony Park North ambulatory surgery facility represents a transformative step in UMMC's ability to deliver high-quality surgical care,” said UMMC Chief Perioperative Executive and Chair of Neurosurgery Chad Washington, MS, MD, MPHS. “This state-of-the-art facility, designed specifically for outpatient procedures, offers patients a more streamlined, comfortable experience from arrival to discharge.”
Dr. Washington added that the new campus will allow the medical center to dedicate more perioperative resources to patients who require the “most complex surgical care.”
Matthew Graves, MD, UMMC’s chair of orthopedic surgery, said transitioning surgeries from the inpatient setting to the ambulatory environment will make care delivery more efficient and patient-focused. “Ambulatory surgery centers and medical office buildings are inherently easier to navigate and less intimidating than a large hospital campus, reducing friction in the patient experience,” said Dr. Graves. “The ability to manage the full continuum of a musculoskeletal episode — from initial evaluation through surgery and follow-up — in a single, state-of-the-art ambulatory location meaningfully enhances continuity, efficiency, and overall patient satisfaction.”
“By combining specialty clinics, imaging and surgery in one location, Colony Park North is intended to reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment while providing a more convenient experience for patients and families,” stated UMMC.
