March 28th marked an important day for Wilson County as TriStar Summit Medical Center celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new, 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art TriStar Summit Surgery Center in Lebanon, TN. But this pivotal moment could not have happened were it not for the concerted efforts of dedicated physicians, executives, and staff aiming to deliver a facility of this magnitude to our community.
Dr. Jonathan Cornelius of Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics was one such physician who played a key role as a visionary for the multi-specialty surgery facility primarily centered around robotic surgery. Teaming up five years ago with then CEO of TriStar Summit Medical Center, Brian Marger, the two realized an obvious need for a surgery center in Wilson County and decided that the two facilities could expand together to fulfill that need. A collaboration that culminated in an unequaled surgery center designed from the ground up with the latest cutting-edge technology. Dr. Cornelius explains, “The problem with most surgery centers that are currently existing is that they were designed for smaller surgeries. But with the advent of robotics, you need space for the robots ... And this center was designed with that in mind- for outpatient joint replacement. Bigger surgeries to be done well and to be able to go home the same day- that facility just hasn’t existed around here until now.”
As current President of Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics, Dr. Cornelius not only champions the advancements of robotic surgeries, he pioneered them. In 2011 he was the first surgeon in the state of Tennessee to adopt robotic joint replacement of the knee and hip. To date, Dr. Cornelius has performed almost 4,000 robotic joint replacement surgeries.
It was only fitting for Dr. Cornelius to be among those invited by current CEO of TriStar Summit Medical Center, Daphne David, to speak at the recent surgery center ribbon-cutting. Dr. Cornelius expresses, “I think we’re doing things at the absolute cutting edge of joint-replacement technology all over the world right now. To have designed this facility for our community and to see it come to life, it’s super exciting for me that we have this here in our community.”
We’re doing things at the absolute cutting edge of joint-replacement technology all over the world right now.