Grand Opening Celebration of Our New Orthopedic Associates Surgery Center in Rocky Hill

Dr. Pietro Memmo

When my partner Dr. Caputo and I were given the privilege of overseeing the construction of this magnificent building by our partners, we had three equal goals in mind: we wanted to design and construct a surgical center where patients would choose to come, doctors would want to operate, and staff would want to work.

First, we built this center for our patients.

We wanted it to be a destination where they will want to come to have their surgery. Beyond those doors, you will soon see 29 private pre-operative and post-operative bays with high ceilings and bright natural light, and most importantly, an attentive, knowledgeable, and caring medical staff and nurses who are the “soul” of this center. There is a café and lounge for our patients and their loved ones. Instead of a red and white banister, you will be greeted by the magnificent artwork of Kim Zimmermann, using actual orthopedic implants.

Second, we built this center for our doctors.

We want this to be an institute where they will want to operate. No longer are we using horsehair stitches or implants made of rubber balls and platinum rings, requiring a 6-month hospital stay. Instead, we will be using the most innovative, state-of-the-art equipment and will have our patients home with their loved ones within hours.

Beyond those doors, you will soon see a procedure room and 7 operating rooms, each measuring over 650 square feet, with 75-inch monitors and floating screens; operating rooms are equipped with HD video and audio streaming for educational and training purposes. There is wireless integration of data, images, and video with Electronic Medical Records. We will be using robotics to perform spine surgery and joint replacements; CT imaging to customize the precise placement of titanium implants in our patients; and the most advanced anesthesia techniques to minimize the use of narcotics and allow our patients to start walking and do physical therapy directly in the recovery area in order to be discharged within hours after a joint replacement. We plan on making this institute a center of excellence, where we intend to publish our stellar surgical outcomes, with high patient satisfaction rates and infection rates that are near zero.

Lastly, we built this center for our medical staff.

We want it to be a place where they will want to come and work. Our medical staff and nurses are the soul of this center. Without them, we would simply be just another building. They bring with them 15+ years of experience, with compassion and kindness that cannot be measured.

Dr. Andrew Caputo

Last month, Tom and I were looking back to find an email about a design issue and, to our surprise, found it from March of 2017! Two years! It has been a long time coming, and I’m so proud to have been working with this dedicated and committed design team—thank you!

Since our days in the JB4 outpatient OR at Hartford Hospital, we progressively have seen the trend and benefits of moving more and more orthopedic procedures to the outpatient setting. This is still actively progressing, locally and nationally, and especially in the areas of total joint replacement and spine. In the effort to serve these needs of our growing orthopedic population, we believe our surgery center expands the opportunity for this growth.

Given our 15-year experience with our outpatient surgery center, our design team collectively brought together ideas from our OR staff, nursing staff, and doctors to create an ideal setting for patients. Over the last two years and more, our design team collected ideas from all of these care providers.

We pooled these ideas, from concept to reality, to create this place to optimally care for ambulatory orthopedic patients.

Thank you to all the OASC staff, not only for helping create this place, and not just to move it across town in only one week, but to help move it into the future. It truly is a unique, special place and sets a standard for orthopedic care. Thank you!

The ribbon is officially cut by OAH members and the incredible steering committee team that includes: Dr. Pietro Memmo, Dr. Andrew Caputo, Paula Chenail, Tom Acampora, Kris Mineau, and Andrea Murrah. Also pictured are executive team members Tim Taylor and Dr. Gordon Zimmermann.

Jenny Manley honors her mother, artist Kim Zimmermann, who created the masterpiece on the stone wall and artwork throughout the center.

State Representative Tom Delnicki presents Drs. Memmo and Caputo with a proclamation from the State of Connecticut.

Local politicians including State Representative Tom Delnicki and CT State Senator Matthew Lesser were proud to celebrate the grand opening.

OAH doctors Caputo, Memmo and Zimmerman are joined by Jeffrey Flaks, President and COO of Hartford Healthcare, and Bimal Patel, SVP and President of Hartford Region of Hartford Healthcare.

Guests were treated to tours of the state-of-the-art operating rooms.