Tom Siemers, CEO of Wilbarger General Hospital in Vernon, Texas, started an orthopedic surgery program over the last year, and the new service quickly improved the hospital's bottom line.
"We were fortunate to find an orthopedic surgeon from the Dallas area that was willing to work one day per week at our hospital," Mr. Siemers told Becker's. The surgeon's typical day includes performing surgeries in the morning and holding clinic hours in the afternoon to meet with patients.
The new arrangement brought orthopedic services closer to home for the rural Texas community Wilbarger General serves and opened a new revenue stream to keep the hospital's ancillary units busy. Orthopedics is one of the top revenue generators for hospitals overall, according to Merritt Hawkins' 2022 "Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives" report.
An orthopedic surgeon drives $3.3 million in annual revenue to a given hospital on average, according to the report, behind only interventional cardiologists, who drive $3.5 million in average annual. Adding orthopedics has been a boon for Wilbarger General.
"Our financial performance improved immediately and significantly," Mr. Siemers said.