Hawaii Pacific Health, the state's largest health-care provider, announced yesterday it will enter into a joint venture with Surgical Care Affiliates to construct and operate a new outpatient surgery center in downtown Honolulu.

Under terms of the agreement, SCA will continue to operate its existing Surgicare of Hawaii outpatient center on Beretania Street until a new approximately 16,000-square-foot center is constructed at an undisclosed location. The new center, slated to open in December 2010, would house five operating rooms and two procedure rooms that would free up inpatient capacity at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi, Straub Clinic & Hospital, Wilcox Memorial Hospital, Kauai Medical Clinic, and Kapiolani Medical Specialists.

“;This partnership allows us to meet the increasing community demand for ambulatory surgical capacity in a patient-friendly environment,”; said Chuck Sted, Hawaii Pacific Health chief executive. “;The new, expanded facility will not only enhance our ability to offer patients leading-edge outpatient services in a convenient location, but it also will free up inpatient capacity in our other facilities to deliver more complex procedures and care.”;

Surgical Care Affiliates is a developer and operator of ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals, with 128 surgical facilities in more than 30 states. Partnering with SCA is an opportunity for Hawaii Pacific Health to better serve its patients, said Virginia Pressler, executive vice president of Hawaii Pacific Health.

Under SCA's day-to-day-management, the relocated Surgicare of Hawaii will operate as a multispecialty center offering medical services that include orthopedics, pain management, ophthalmology, general surgery, otolaryngology, urology, obstetrics/gynecology, plastics and podiatry.

The new surgical center initially will operate at current staffing levels, said Surgicare Hawaii administrator Karl Klungreseter.