New Ambulatory Surgery Center Coming to Spearfish: Eastside Surgery Center to Serve the Region

Spearfish, SD – Oct. 13, 2025 — A new, state-of-the-art ambulatory surgery center (ASC), Eastside Surgery Center (ESC), is coming to the Eastside Acres development in Spearfish, located at I-90 Exit 17 next to the SkyRidge Housing Development. Led by local podiatrist Dr. Lorri Riley and supported by ASCend Specialists of Gillette, Wyoming, ESC will operate as a free-standing ASC — fully independent, but benefiting from professional management, economies of scale, and access to resources most rural ASCs struggle to obtain.

What Is an ASC — And Why It Matters

An ambulatory surgery center (ASC) is a specialty medical facility that performs surgical procedures that generally do not require an overnight hospital stay. After surgery, patients recover in a monitored observation or recovery area and depart home the same day.

Compared to hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), ASCs are more narrowly focused on outpatient surgical and procedural services. This narrower focus translates into lower overhead, greater efficiencies, more control over scheduling, and reduced cost burdens for patients and insurers.

In 2023, approximately 6,300 ASCs served 3.4 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. Nationally, ASCs are expanding with more than 80% of surgeries now performed in outpatient settings, thanks to advances in surgical technology and procedure protocols.

Studies show that surgical procedures performed in ASCs often cost significantly less than in hospital outpatient settings — one data point suggests an ASC might deliver a procedure at roughly 60 % of the cost compared to a hospital facility, due to lower infrastructure and capital costs.

For patients, benefits include shorter wait times, more convenient scheduling, lower cost sharing, and recovery in the comfort of their own home.

What Eastside Surgery Center Brings to the Region

• High quality, patient-centered care. ESC will operate under rigorous regulatory and accreditation standards, delivering surgical services safely and efficiently in the outpatient setting.

• Lower cost, greater value. By leveraging efficiencies and avoiding the high fixed costs of hospital infrastructure, ESC can deliver cost savings to patients, insurers, and the community.

• Access and capacity for growth. As demand grows, ESC helps relieve pressure on hospital operating rooms and improves surgical access locally rather than requiring travel to distant hospitals.

• Economies of scale + local independence. While ESC will be fully independent in operations and governance, it will benefit from the management expertise, purchasing leverage, and best practices of ASCend Specialists.

• Regional retention of care. Patients in Spearfish, the Black Hills region, and surrounding communities can receive advanced outpatient surgical care locally, instead of traveling to larger urban centers.

  
  

Partnership & Leadership

The development and operational management of ESC is being supported by ASCend Specialists, a Gillette, Wyoming–based ASC management company. ASCend brings deep experience in facility planning, operations, finance, regulatory compliance, and ongoing management — all while preserving ESC’s independent governance and support of the local economy.

“Working with Eastside Surgery Center gives us the opportunity to bring world-class outpatient surgical care to a region that deserves it,” said Linda Bedwell, CEO of ASCend Specialists. “We will deliver a combination of clinical excellence, financial expertise, and patient-first operations. Our goal is to support ESC in delivering top-tier surgical care while keeping it rooted in the Spearfish community.”

Leading the ESC vision locally is Dr. Lorri Riley, a podiatrist in Spearfish and figure in the Eastside Acres development. Dr. Riley previously founded Spearfish Surgery Center in 1995 and later sold a majority ownership to the then Queen City Medical in 1997.

“As someone deeply invested in the health and growth of this community, I believe Eastside Surgery Center will be transformational,” said Dr. Riley. “We will bring advanced surgical care closer to home — to our neighbors, our families, our region — and do so with a model that emphasizes quality, access, and local control. We want to give patients a choice in where they can have their outpatient surgery performed.”

ESC will be structured to support multiple surgical specialties over time, depending on community needs and physician partnerships. Planning and design is already underway with construction slated to start in the coming months. In the months ahead, ESC will share updates on its plans, surgical specialties, physician partners, and invitation to community engagement events such as a formal groundbreaking ceremony. ESC is targeting a completion date of late 2026.

We look forward to sharing further updates in the coming months as construction commences and as Eastside Surgery Center moves toward transforming outpatient surgical access in Spearfish and the region.

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About Eastside Surgery Center / Eastside Acres: Eastside Surgery Center is the new outpatient surgical facility anchored in the Eastside Acres development in Spearfish, SD. It is envisioned as a free-standing, independent ambulatory surgery center serving Spearfish and the surrounding region with high-quality, efficient, and patient-centric surgical services. Eastside Acres is a broader mixed-use development project in Spearfish, located at I-90 Exit 17 next to the SkyRidge Housing Development, aiming to bring commercial, residential, healthcare, and community amenities to the east side of Spearfish, SD.

About ASCend Specialists: Founded in Gillette, Wyoming, by rural healthcare leaders, ASCend Specialists provides robust management and consulting services, leading the way in rural ASC development. ASCend enables rural ASCs to deliver exceptional and sustainable care while maintaining their independence. ASCend envisions an ASC-lead future where rural surgical care is sustainable, innovative, and accessible. ASCend provides the economies of scale, diverse network, and management expertise necessary to help rural ASCs ascend and thrive.