Cincinnati ambulatory service center company Blue Chip raises $1.8 million

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Blue Chip Surgical Center Partners, which builds and manages physician-led ambulatory service centers, has raised $1.8 million through private equity, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Blue Chip has three areas of focus: spine, multispecialty and hospital joint ventures. It’s based in Cincinnati, but has locations in Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, as well as other parts of Ohio. The company’s Web site says it builds centers that have between two to four operating rooms and as many as two procedure rooms, with volumes between 1,700 to 2,200 patients per year per operating room and usually up to 10 clinicians or specialists.

“We don’t do ‘mega-centers,’ ” the company states on its site.

Blue Chip states it usually invests $250,000 for a 15 percent to 30 percent stake and serves as the managing partner. Meanwhile, each physician invests $30,000 to $100,000.

This is the first time in more than four years Blue Chip has raised private money, according to the SEC. It raised about $1 million in April 2004.

[Flickr photo courtesy of Sarah MD]