Speciality Surgery Center, LLC

	Specialty Surgery Center was founded by Dr. Cole to provide patients safety and excellence in a private surgery suite. SSC uses only board certified anesthesio-logists and is JCAHO accredited for both cosmetic & functional surgery.
Specialty Surgery Center, LLC

What makes anesthesia services at SSC unique?

 Our anesthesia providers are M.D.’s
Most outpatient and hospital facilities use C.R.N.A.’s, who are certified registered nurse anesthetists that have received additional specialized education and training in anesthesia services.  A C.R.N.A. is a registered nurse that has worked in a critical care area for a minimum of 1 year before returning to school for 2+ years for specialty training in anesthesia, which equals 7 years of education.

There are several benefits to having an M.D. anesthesia care provider compared to a C.R.N.A. One benefit is that the M.D.’s education and experience are more extensive.  An M.D. anesthesia care provider is a doctor that has specialized in anesthesia. Their education includes 4 years of undergraduate college, 4 years of medical school, a 1 year internship, and 3 years in an anesthesiology residency, which equals 12 years of education. Another benefit of M.D. anesthesia care is that each patient receives their anesthesia services from one provider only, whereas in a typical hospital setting the patient is receiving treatment primarily from the C.R.N.A. while the M.D. supervises and is only present at the very beginning and very end of a surgical case. 

Consistency of care
Our surgical facility utilizes the Ambulatory Anesthesia Specialists group to deliver care to our patients.  This group consists of a team of Board Certified Anesthesiologists dedicated to providing anesthesia for outpatient surgery.  Each anesthesiologist has extensive experience in the outpatient setting, and all are certified in advanced Cardiovascular Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. 

Because this group is small, they have been able to provide our facility with consistent and efficient care that is sometimes lacking in a large facility that employs numerous providers.   The members of Ambulatory Anesthesia Specialists are:

Lisa R. Drake, M. D.
Dr. Drake received her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in 1993.  She completed her Anesthesia residency training at the Emory University Affiliated Hospitals in 1997, where she served as Chief Resident.  She was certified by the American board of Anesthesiology in 1998.

Timothy D. Griner, M. D.
Dr. Griner completed medical school at Emory University School of Medicine in 1994.  He completed his residency training in anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine in 1998, where he served as Chief Resident.  He was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1999.

Aida Joiner, M. D.
Dr. Joiner received her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1990.  She completed her anesthesia residency training at the Emory University Affiliated Hospitals in 1994 and was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1995.

Elise M. Tomaras, M. D.
Dr. Tomaras completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in 1994 and remained in Houston, completing her residency training in Anesthesiology in 1998.  She was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1999.

Guaranteed familiarity with each individual patient
In addition to the consistency of care they provide, the anesthesiologists of Ambulatory Anesthesia Specialists have been instrumental in developing and maintaining protocols that ensure our patients receive care above and beyond the normal standards of care.  The medical history and surgical plan of each and every patient scheduled for surgery at the Specialty Surgery Center, Inc. is personally reviewed by one of the anesthesiologists.  This hands-on approach ensures that each patient is receiving the best overall surgical care plan for their specific medical ailment and enables our facility to provide a surgical experience to each patient that is safe, convenient and enjoyable.