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Today's clinical providers and health care systems

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need a strategic partner that is focused on

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the evolution of health care delivery.

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At Surgery Partners, we are redefining the health

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care industry

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as a nation's leading independent operator of surgical

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facilities and ancillary services.

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With an extensive presence spanning over 180

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locations nationwide,

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our commitment extends beyond healthcare.

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It's about fostering successful partnerships

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that enhance the quality of care in the

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communities we serve.

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Surgery Partners is more than an operator or

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service provider.

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We are your strategic ally committed to transforming

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healthcare delivery.

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Learn more at surgery partners.com.

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This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare

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Podcast.

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I I am thrilled today to have a

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return guest. We're joined today by Christopher Kidd.

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Chris Christopher is the chief executive officer of

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the Wyatt Surgery Center. He's gonna talk to

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us about specialties and what he's seeing today

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in a in a lot in a lot

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more.

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Christopher, can you take a moment first and

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just introduce yourself and and talk about the

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Wyatt Surgery Center? Then we'll talk about what

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specialties work, what doesn't work, and and a

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lot more. Sure. My pleasure. Thank you.

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So

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my name is Christopher Kitson. I serve as

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the CEO for the Wyatt Surgery Center and

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Tucson Ambulatory Anesthesia,

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and I associate to Tucson. So there are

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3 kind of separate but related businesses.

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That said, I have kind of been a

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health system guy my entire career up until

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now,

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by having held kind of various

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roles with MultiCare Health System, PeaceHealth, and then

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here in Tucson, TMC Health.

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They've been in the,

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in the ambulatory services world strategy and business

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development and and also in surgery centers and

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joint ventures and partnerships. So kind of switched

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from the,

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health system side and have been working for

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what is now a joint venture surgery center.

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So Wyatt Surgery Center is a large 4

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room ASC

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located on the Tucson Medical Center campus in

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Tucson, Arizona.

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Up until April of last year, it was

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an ophthalmology

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only,

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ASC owned by a single ophthalmologist.

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And then in April, we syndicated ownership to

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include,

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the health system, so, TMC Health, as well

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as,

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several other surgeons of new specialties including spine

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surgery,

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neurosurgery,

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and pain management.

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Take take a moment on how do you

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enjoy the surgery center world versus the health

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system world?

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What what what are some of your thoughts

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there? Do you love this? What are your

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thoughts on one versus the other? Sure. I

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mean, they're they're definitely very different.

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You're coming from a health system

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of a background where,

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there are typically more zeros in the balance

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sheet and more,

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any profit and loss just just based on

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scale.

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It's interesting in the in the ASC and

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the medical group world,

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in leadership, it seems to be

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it definitely is easier to accomplish things. Right?

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Because you can,

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typically move a lot

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more quickly,

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but not always. I think that for me

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personally,

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see, I've been in this role for about

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a year and a half.

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So going from

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18 years in Dell systems to a year

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and a half in this space,

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I enjoy it. I I think that, the

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parts of all of my roles that I've

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had that I it really I've enjoyed the

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most probably is

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kind of working with physicians

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and,

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helping

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them come together

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around a common goal, a common outcome.

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And in this role too, I get to

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work with the health system. It's actually where

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I used to work. I started on the

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deal that I I closed when I was

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on the other side of the fence when

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I was at TMC. So it it's they

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both definitely have

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definitely have their pros and cons. But but

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it's probably nice to be in a in

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a bit of

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a not as huge an environment where you

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could see more directly the impact from yourself

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to the key performance indicators to what's going

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on, and you feel very, very central to

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it all. Whereas, sometimes in a major health

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system, it's hard to feel a central to

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everything that's going on. You're absolutely right. I

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mean, I was oftentimes, you know, in the

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in the corporate headquarters, if you will, kind

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of far removed

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from what goes on in the hospital and

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the medical group and health systems.

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And I genuinely like

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working with staff, talking with them,

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getting to know them. Certainly, that is something

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that I get to do a lot more

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in this role than before.

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Although, I mean, at multicare several years ago,

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I was, running out of network of urgent

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care centers across the state. And in that

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role, I got to see and speak with

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more both patients and staff. But in this

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role, it's a daily occurrence, and I really

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do enjoy that part of it.

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Thank you. And as you dig deeper into

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the surgery center world,

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what specialties do you like in the surgery

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center? Are there specials you don't like in

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the surgery center? Any sort of, you know,

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first thoughts after almost 24 months in the

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surgery center line?

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Sure. So I think what's interesting is that

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within various service lines, there are, you know,

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procedures that we like and do and do

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very well in the ASC, and then there

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are some that just don't.

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So I think, for example, we are

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we're moving rather heavily into the of what

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we're calling musculoskeletal

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services, so, pain, spine, and neurosurgery. And,

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you know, within the spine realm, there are

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several procedures like

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ACDFs,

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LAME's,

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SI joints that are perfectly positioned for a

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surgery center. We do them very well.

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Patients have a great experience. They're they're in

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and they're out, and it's easier to find.

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There's no,

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your giant parking garage and structure, and then

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you have to weave your way through a

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hospital.

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So those do very well.

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Then again, clearly, in that same realm, you

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know, those procedures involve

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the the brain

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or

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or nervous systems are are more complex

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and typically require work in a hospital. And

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so those were

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I don't believe are are good for the

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AFC, and I don't know that several of

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those ever ever really will be. And then

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also on the on the AFC side, those,

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you know, those LAMMI's ATDFs

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and SI joints,

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they also reimburse pretty well. So we like

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those.

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Ophthalmology is another one. So,

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you know, in the health system space, I

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don't know that I really, at the time,

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paid much attention to ophthalmologist because that was

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oftentimes always done in a surgery center at

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least during

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my 15 years or so in health care.

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They are perfectly positioned for surgery centers and

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that they're typically pretty quick cases, pretty quick

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turnaround.

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You know, on cataract lens cataracts,

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on premium lens implants,

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LASIK,

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glaucoma surgery, etcetera,

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those are pretty quick,

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and patients are in and out, you know,

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in

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a very short period of time. And so

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it's a great experience for them, and it's

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quick and fast for us.

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I think,

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also so kind of the lower extremity world,

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so foot ankle podiatry and and lower extremity,

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those are services that are

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perfectly positioned for surgery centers, and we like

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those as well.

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Some of them take a bit longer than

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the other cases, but, again,

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patients are in and out very quickly and

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they, have a great experience.

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I think, you know, we don't do plastics,

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but certainly plastics is a, perfect thing for

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surgery centers.

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Pain management is a fantastic one,

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not only from a reimbursement perspective, but from

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the patient care perspective because

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oftentimes,

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if you're coming in for a pain procedure,

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you

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are in pain right at that very moment.

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And being able to find the center quickly,

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get in and get out is a great

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experience for them. And again, they do reimburse

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very well. So spinal cord simulators,

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injections, radio frequency ablations,

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peripheral nerve simulators, those are are things that

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we do at my every week.

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Urology, so we don't do that one, either

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yet, but is

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quickly, I think, moved into

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into the ambulatory realm,

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and,

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you know, cytoscopy,

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biopsies,

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etcetera.

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Those are perfect for surgery centers. Ones where

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I think it it gets more complicated, just

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certainly

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a cardiac surgery,

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big neurosurgery, etcetera.

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Those are cases that I don't know that

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those will,

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at least in my lifetime,

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be

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ASC appropriate just because they're so complicated

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oftentimes and the

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and

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the post op is get longer typically in

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the hospital.

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But

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other than that, I I think that those

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are the big ones. We're really focused right

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now primarily on

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the pain procedures, the spine procedures,

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and neurosurgery,

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and of course, ophthalmology.

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Those are we believe that

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there's a lot of opportunity for growth,

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and there's a lot of opportunity for for

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partnerships

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in the health system space as well because

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oftentimes

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right now, at least what I'm I'm hearing

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is that hospital ORs are pretty full,

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these days, at least they are in Tucson.

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And so interestingly enough, the health systems are

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interested in in those partnerships to free up

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their ORs for the more complex and acute

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cases.

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Thank you very, very much. And what about

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physician leadership? How important is the physician leadership

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to the success of a center?

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I think it's it's very important. So there's

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there's a happy balance. Right? I think that,

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from the

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attracting other physicians, you know, I think that's

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a huge part of the role of a

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physician leader is

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you're working with your colleagues who perhaps,

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don't currently use an

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ASC or,

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are looking for,

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other opportunities. I think that in that realm,

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especially, physicians are very important.

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And then in terms of

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deciding which cases are and are not appropriate,

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it's critical.

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We are very fortunate

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that

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the owners

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that are physicians,

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of our ASC are just wonderful people as

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well as outstanding physicians.

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And they work very well together. They educate

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the staff. They,

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they build rapport with anesthesia. It's their role

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in leading the center is essential,

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and I think that's something else that's, you

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know, it's

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a shift in the marketplace right now. I

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think that, payer dynamics and whatnot are oftentimes

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moving,

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forcing

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independent surgery centers just because of the economic

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realities

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to

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partner or be acquired by

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larger

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national surgery chains or even even health systems,

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which

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when that happens, oftentimes,

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but not always, that physician leadership

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role can shift.

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And we're also very fortunate in that we

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are a physician led,

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surgery center, and,

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it works well as long as

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the physician leaders and the,

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administrative and kind of senior leaders

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partner and understand

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where everyone's strengths and weaknesses are, I think

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it's it's a really great balance.

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Thank you. And finally, Christopher, we're just getting

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going 2025. Although, almost through the 1st month

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already, which is amazing.

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I know.

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It really is. What are you most focused

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on and excited about this year?

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Sure. It feels like it was just Halloween.

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It just boggles my mind.

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I think that for the coming year and

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for the industry in general, I see on

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the horizon

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a lot of opportunities

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within the,

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AI

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and tech space, which is both exciting and

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kind of scary too. I think that the

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opportunity to,

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infuse some of what comes of

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those investments and that technology as it continues

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to mature.

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It has the opportunity to,

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to make us more efficient, to help us

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lower the cost of care,

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and

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to help us, I think, deliver on what

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is another thing that I'm excited about,

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is related to consumerism.

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So having lived

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in the urgent care space for

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several years,

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like and focus on the consumer experience

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and really,

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creating consumer

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preferred models of care.

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I think that that, along with AI in

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terms of how we, you know, can educate

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and engage with patients, engage with consumers,

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to not only improve their experience, but also

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improve their care

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and for us to do things more efficiently.

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Because as I think we all know,

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you know, the

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rising cost of

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of delivering care compared to the increases

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in in reimbursement, there's a

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that math doesn't work very well. And so

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I think,

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both from the patient experience

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side as well as the financial side, those

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two things are really exciting for me.

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And then for just for us, at our

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center at,

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Wyatt,

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you know, we're still a start up of

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sorts. So, while ophthalmology

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00:13:45,524 --> 00:13:48,144
has been going there for some time, you

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know, just 6 months ago, 7 months ago,

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we started doing

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the spine surgery

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and

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and pain procedures,

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and neurosurgery. So we are still kind of

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a startup in that sense, and I'm really

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excited about

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where that's gonna head.

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I think that

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00:14:03,540 --> 00:14:04,279
the opportunity

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for growth for us,

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with our partnership with the health system,

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with the physicians that we have right now,

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and and those that are,

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00:14:13,205 --> 00:14:15,524
interested in joining us. It's just a really

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exciting time to be here.

397
00:14:18,644 --> 00:14:19,384
That's fantastic.

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00:14:20,004 --> 00:14:21,465
What a what a great situation.

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00:14:21,845 --> 00:14:23,365
Christopher, I can't tell you how much I

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appreciate your leadership, your sort of constant learning

401
00:14:26,669 --> 00:14:29,490
and evolving in leadership. Just fantastic.

402
00:14:30,029 --> 00:14:31,649
Thank you for joining us today,

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00:14:32,029 --> 00:14:34,669
on the Becker's Healthcare podcast. What a pleasure.

404
00:14:34,669 --> 00:14:37,009
Thank you very, very much. Thank you.