Carmel Specialty Surgery Center

I had hand surgery at this center in 2023 which resulted in a surgical site infection that progressed to osteomyelitis. This was due to a violation of the sterile field by the surgeon and the Center. I had minor hand surgery at this center and developed an infection due to violation of the sterile field by the surgeon—an owner of the center. Two subsequent surgeries had to be performed—I had three procedures in a three month period of time. I refused to return to the Carmel Specialty Surgery Center for subsequent procedures. The infection of my hand was mismanaged for four months, I developed osteomyelitis, an IV (PICC) line had to be surgically established in my arm, and I had to be treated with daily IV antibiotic infusion for 42 days at a hospital infusion center. As a former director of surgery in a large municipal hospital, I believe the infection control practices of the surgery center (owned by the surgeons who treated me) did not meet basic good infection control… practice standards. While other medical providers in the area and in the country were masking due to covid, the Surgery Center proudly did not require masks as demonstrated by a bravado sign on the door. The Center requested that I come early for the procedure and then left me sitting in the waiting room with unmasked adults and children for over an hour. I do not believe that I even had surgery in the designated operating rooms as they wheeled me by them to a room where a lot of equipment was stored. This was the first time I have had surgery in a physician owned facility. It will be my last. Not only do I believe that the infection control practices were substandard but I believe the quality of the staff was also substandard. The circulating room assistant in the operating room told the surgeon I did not have any medication allergies despite the fact that there was an extensive list of drugs to which I am allergic that was taken by the admitting nurse. There was also considerable tension in the operating room between the staff and surgeon—I do not know why but the verbal exchanges were terse and unpleasant. I tried to obtain the infection rate of the Surgery Center prior to surgery but this rate is not available to patients. A minor surgical procedure that should have only cost $2690 has so far generated payments to various providers of over $31,500 in an attempt to rectify the surgical infection acquired at this center. I am now being seen by expert professors and clinicians at one of the top five university medical centers in the United States who continue to try to rectify the poor care I received and prevent amputation of my finger. I am trying to put this incident behind me but it is difficult since I have pain every time the tip of the affected finger touches a surface. It has been almost two years since the original surgery and my life as I knew it will never be the same.