Dr. Ravindra Joshi, orthopedic surgeon, works with Erika Perry at McKenzie County Healthcare Systems, where he has begun seeing patients and performed the new center’s first surgery March 27.

WATFORD CITY – A new hospital complex that opened last June afforded McKenzie County Healthcare Systems the ability to take on a broader range of medical services, including re-establishing surgical care that had been absent for more than 20 years.

The first surgery in a new, state-of-the-art surgical suite took place March 27, performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ravindra Joshi.

“One of the driving goals we had with building the new facility was maximizing our options. One of the difficulties of operating in the Bakken is you often don’t know what’s going to be needed, because things do change so quickly here,” said Michael Curtis, chief administrative officer. “We wanted to build it in a way that if there was an need for orthopedics, we have the space to do it. If there’s a need for general, we had space to do it. So, we did build it with two rather large operating suites – large enough that we can do anything that came up in the future – and two additional procedure rooms.”

Samuel Perry, director of operations at the facility, said the surgical service ramped up slowly to ensure everything was operating as needed, but going forward, the suite should be busy. Joshi, who is full-time in Watford City, offers total shoulder, knee and hip replacement as well as sports medicine. He also works in outreach in Stanley.

Another surgeon, Dr. Torfi Hoskuldsson, currently part-time, will be performing a variety of general surgeries and procedures such as colonoscopies.

Going forward, any expansion will depend on how needs evolve, Curtis said.

“We have had several surgeons reach out to us with interest in coming out here with various specialties,” he added, noting an ear, nose and throat specialist has been working in the clinic and hopes to eventually do procedures and surgeries in Watford City. Great Plains Women’s Center in Williston also operates a clinic in the facility and plans to eventually add gynecological procedures. Curtis said he expects the hospital also may be able to offer at some point the services of visiting surgeons for the more specialty procedures.

McKenzie County Healthcare Systems invested not only into the surgical suite equipment but in staffing the department. The facility began hiring new staff and has relied on traveling professionals as it builds up that staff.

“Starting surgery from nothing is daunting at best,” Curtis said. “Part of that is the staffing and making sure that we have stable staff that are well trained to support the surgeon.”

Having local surgery capability brings significant benefit to residents of the area. Curtis said traveling to a larger center often means an overnight stay prior to surgery and a long day with travel home afterwards. The need to arrange logistics can delay a surgery, and if there is a concern post-surgery, it is a long distance to commute to or communicate with the medical center.

“So for the population here, the ability to literally come in, have their procedure done, not have to travel, and then go home, it’s truly advantageous,” Curtis said. “We can get people in quicker. We don’t have to push them out several months, and ultimately they will get alleviated from their pain much sooner.”

The facility added a internal medicine physician, who can assist in preparing patients for surgery. Dr. Lucinda Mundorf provides predominantly outpatient visits for the higher acuity primary care but also some inpatient care and resident care in the nursing home. The new construction included a 47-bed nursing home, which like the clinic is attached to the hospital.

In addition, the Watford City hospital took a large step forward in acquiring an MRI machine. Curtis said accessibility to MRI is limited in the region, creating waits in many cases.

“We’re able to get in the patients much faster, and that’s proven extremely beneficial,” he said. “Ultimately we’re designing the whole system to get patients treated faster, whether that’s an MRI or surgery, and the whole goal is to take out the delays that people often experience in care.”