New England Surgical Center, LLC is a state licensed, fully accredited out-patient surgery center located at The Retreat at Split Rock. As a national leader in patient safety, Dr. Gordon built the state –of –the –art facility in the barn of the estate during the development of the Retreat. As a Connecticut state licensed surgical facility, New England Surgical Center must comply with the same regulations and inspections as hospitals. Combined with full accreditation by the AAAASF, our facility defines the gold standard for safety, privacy and comfort.
Patient Safety
Dr. Gordon has been devoted to patient safety his entire career. Starting in the 1990’s he was one of the first facial plastic surgeons to operate from a private fully accredited surgical facility. Understanding the need to scientifically define the best methods to accomplish facial rejuvenation surgery in an out-of-hospital facility, Dr. Gordon started compiling and quantifying surgical and anesthesia outcomes. This allowed him to publish the first prospective study that showed his specific methodology was consistently safe, allowed a quick recovery, and should be the gold standard for facial plastic surgery.
Specifically, Dr. Gordon studied facial procedures of longer duration, using general anesthesia, in an out-of-hospital surgery center. Since different types of surgery create different risk profiles, presuming that a surgical procedure was riskier because it took a longer time was not necessarily accurate. This was already evident anecdotally from many successful plastic surgeons who operated on the face without problems for their entire careers. In fact, if the duration of a procedure is not associated with risk, then having multiple procedures to achieve the same goal could actually create more and unnecessary risk than accomplishing the same outcome in one surgery. For instance, if you have to travel from New York to Los Angeles, is it safer to fly to St. Louis get off the plane and take another flight to Los Angeles?
The study reveals that the type of surgery directly correlates to risk, not the duration of the procedure itself. Surgery that invades body cavities, such as an appendectomy, can be of short duration but often necessitates more powerful anesthetics and can create more systemic or whole-body issues, such as fluid shifts and electrolyte changes. Where soft tissue procedures, such as hand surgery, can take many, many hours but can be accomplished with lighter anesthetics and avoid the risk issues associated with body cavity procedures.
Facial plastic aesthetic surgery often combines multiple procedures of longer duration. Safety is ensured because of the nature of the safety profile of soft tissue procedures, strict patient selection, and the exclusive use of board-certified anesthesiologists in a state-licensed, fully accredited surgical facility.
Dr. Gordon is currently working on a follow-up study, which compiles decades of outcomes reinforcing his initial work, showing that safety and comfort are consistently achieved by following his strict protocols.
During this period, Dr. Gordon advocated for formalized oversight and guidelines to enhance patient safety on a national scale. Because of his effort, the first Ad Hoc Committee on Patient Safety was formed by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, naming Dr. Gordon as the chairman. Dr. Gordon’s promotion of the necessity and significance of patient safety caused the expansion and formal incorporation of the committee to include patient safety, quality assurance, and accreditation in which Dr. Gordon was the first chairman for an additional 3-year tenure, and he remains an emeritus member of the committee.
In contrast to other states like New York, in Connecticut, any facility that provides surgical services must be state-licensed by the Department of Public Health, in addition to being accredited. This ensures regulatory oversight on par with hospitals but with the advantages of a private, single practice facility devoted to plastic surgery. Studies have shown that facilities that provide only one specialized service create the best outcomes. In addition, this allows privacy, limited patient volume, and, most importantly, the lack of infections. Even before our Covid-19 environment, New England Surgical Center didn’t treat patients with illness, avoiding the issues of drug-resistant infections that occur in hospitals or public surgery centers. New England Surgical Center provides the best of both worlds, hospital credentials in a private, specialized surgical facility.
Our Staff
All our anesthesiologists are members of Resource Anesthesiology Associates, P.C., one of the first anesthesiology practices that specialize in out-patient anesthesia care. These doctors will be providing our patients with the finest care during their cosmetic surgery procedures.
Rapid recovery
Although our concepts are “One and Done” in facial rejuvenation surgery, the most common issue limiting people from pursuing a procedure is recovery time. Essentially the majority of people have to be able to be back in their professional and social life between 9- 14 days.
Our methodology and the Retreat at Split Rock combine to optimize recovery time in ways unique ways:
- Dr. Gordon limits the schedule, often to one per day; this not only ensures consistency and predictability in his outcomes but allows him to be gentle with the tissue. This minimizes swelling and bruising, which minimizes recovery and cannot be accomplished when operating on multiple cases in a day
- Dr. Gordon does all his own surgery completely without a fellow or physician assistant
- The Retreat at Split Rock provides a seamless process. The adjacency of the Inn at Split Rock to New England Surgical Center eliminates any travel, stress, and the commotion associated with recovery at a separate hotel or travel back to home. In other environments immediate travel after surgery is necessary and can be traumatic. The Retreat at Split Rock eliminates travel and directly leads to an easier, more comfortable, and importantly, a more rapid recovery process.
- This creates security, peace of mind, and intellectual certainty. This eliminates uncertainty and anxiety, allowing all your body energies to be utilized in the healing process and directly equates to a rapid recovery
- Although not a medical recovery facility, the adjacency of the Inn at Split Rock allows for unique proprietary modalities such as oxygen therapy and lymphatic massage, combined with individualized nutritional support as examples of the unparalleled advantages offered at The Retreat at Split Rock. This cannot be accomplished in a separate hotel or home environment.
Covid-19
As a leader in patient safety, Dr. Gordon has always been proactive in all areas of safety and best practices; this has been especially evident during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Beyond following the evolving protocols and safety measures, The Retreat at Split Rock has distinct advantages in preventing Covid-19 infections.
Created for exclusivity and privacy, the advantages provided by the Retreat translate optimally for the current Covid-19 environment.
Isolated on a multi-acre estate, The Retreat at Split Rock eliminates random people from entering the Retreat. There is no street traffic, no lobby, and no common areas. In addition, since everyone is individually scheduled and the practice has a limited volume, all aspects of social separation and all infection prevention can be attained.