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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2003

Commission file No. 000-32837

United Surgical Partners International, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
     
Delaware
  75-2749762
(State of Incorporation)   (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
 
15305 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1600
Addison, Texas
(Address of principal executive offices)
  75001
(Zip Code)

(972) 713-3500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

     
Title of Each Class Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered


Common Stock, par value $.01 per share   The Nasdaq Stock Market
Rights to Purchase Series A Junior Participating   The Nasdaq Stock Market
Preferred Stock, par value $.01 per share    

      Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     Yes þ          No o

      Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Parts I, II, III, and IV of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

      Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).     Yes þ          No o

         
Aggregate market value of outstanding Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, as of June 30, 2003
  $ 509,098,964  
     
 
Number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of March 8, 2004
    28,024,942  
     
 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

      Part III — Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held April 28, 2004.




UNITED SURGICAL PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL, INC.

2003 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

             
Page


 PART I
   Business     2  
   Properties     36  
   Legal Proceedings     36  
   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders     36  
 

 PART II
   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters     37  
   Selected Consolidated Financial Data     38  
   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation     40  
   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk     55  
   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data     56  
   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure     56  
   Controls and Procedures     56  
 

 PART III
   Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant     57  
   Executive Compensation     57  
   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters     57  
   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions     57  
   Principal Accounting Fees and Services     57  
 

 PART IV
   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K     57  
 1st Amendment to Amended/Restated Credit Agreement
 2nd Amendment to Amended/Restated Credit Agreement
 Amendment of Employment Agreement
 Employment Agreement - Jonathan R. Bond
 Employment Agreement - Brett P. Brodnax
 Employment Agreement - Mark C. Garvin
 Employment Agreement - Mark A. Kopser
 List of Company's Subsidiaries
 Consent of KPMG LLP
 Power of Attorney - Donald E. Steen
 Power of Attorney - William H. Wilcox
 Power of Attorney - Mark A. Kopser
 Power of Attorney - John J. Wellik
 Power of Attorney - James C. Crews
 Power of Attorney - D. Scott Mackesy
 Power of Attorney - Thomas L. Mills
 Power of Attorney - Boone Powell, Jr.
 Power of Attorney - Paul B. Queally
 Power of Attorney - David P. Zarin, M.D.
 Power of Attorney - John C. Garrett, M.D.
 Power of Attorney - Jerry P. Widman
 Power of Attorney - Joel T. Allison
 Certification of CEO - Section 302
 Certification of CFO - Section 302
 Certification of CEO - Section 906
 Certification of CFO - Section 906


Note:  The responses to Items 10 through 13 will be included in the Company’s definitive proxy statement to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held April 28, 2004. The required information is incorporated into this Form 10-K by reference to that document and is not repeated herein.

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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

      Certain statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the document incorporated herein by reference, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “continues”, “will”, “may”, “should”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans” and similar expressions, and statements regarding the Company’s business strategy and plans, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which the Company is unable to predict or control, that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and regionally; foreign currency fluctuations; demographic changes; changes in, or the failure to comply with, laws and governmental regulations; the ability to enter into managed care provider arrangements on acceptable terms; changes in Medicare, Medicaid and other government funded payments or reimbursement in the U.S. and Western Europe; liability and other claims asserted against us; the highly competitive nature of healthcare; changes in business strategy or development plans of healthcare systems with which we partner; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, including physicians, nurses and other health care professionals; our significant indebtedness; the availability of suitable acquisition and development opportunities and the length of time it takes to accomplish acquisitions and developments; our ability to integrate new businesses with our existing operations; the availability and terms of capital to fund the expansion of our business, including the acquisition and development of additional facilities and certain additional factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the document incorporated herein by reference. Given these uncertainties, investors and prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation and make no promise to update any such factors or forward-looking statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any such factors or forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, to reflect new information as a result of the occurrence of events or developments or otherwise.

PART I

 
Item 1. Business

General

      United Surgical Partners International, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “we”, the “Company” or “USPI”) owns and operates short stay surgical facilities including surgery centers and private surgical hospitals in the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom. We focus on providing high quality surgical facilities that meet the needs of patients, physicians and payors better than hospital-based and other outpatient surgical facilities. We believe that our facilities (1) enhance the quality of care and the healthcare experience of patients, (2) offer significant administrative, clinical and economic benefits to physicians and (3) offer an efficient and low cost alternative to payors. We acquire and develop our facilities through the formation of strategic relationships with physicians and healthcare systems to better access and serve the communities in our markets. Our operating model is efficient, scalable and portable and we have adapted it to each of our national markets. We believe that our acquisition and development strategy and operating model enable us to continue to grow by taking advantage of highly-fragmented markets and an increasing demand for short stay surgery.

      Since physicians provide and influence the direction of healthcare worldwide, we have developed our operating model to encourage physicians to affiliate with us and to use our facilities. We operate our facilities, structure our strategic relationships and adopt staffing, scheduling and clinical systems and protocols with the goal of increasing physician productivity. We believe that our focus on physician satisfaction, combined with providing high quality healthcare in a friendly and convenient environment for patients, will continue to increase the number of procedures performed at our facilities each year.

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      Donald E. Steen, our chairman, and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe formed USPI in February 1998. We operate surgery centers and private surgical hospitals in the United States and Western Europe. As of December 31, 2003, we operated 74 facilities, consisting of 62 in the United States, nine in Spain, and three in the United Kingdom. Of the 62 U.S. facilities, 35 are jointly owned with 16 major not-for-profit healthcare systems. Overall, as of December 31, 2003, we held ownership interests in 72 of the facilities and operated the remaining two facilities under management contracts. Our revenues for 2003 were $446.3 million, up 30% from $342.4 million for 2002.

Available Information

      We file proxy statements and annual, quarterly and current reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You may read and copy any document that we file at the SEC’s public reference room located at 450 Fifth Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549. You may also call the Securities and Exchange Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330 for information on the operation of the public reference room. Our SEC filings are also available to you free of charge at the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov. We also maintain a web site at http://www.unitedsurgical.com that includes links to our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports. These reports are available on our website without charge as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. We post our audit and compliance committee, options and compensation committee, nominating and corporate governance committee charters, our corporate governance guidelines, and our financial code of ethics applicable to our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer and other senior financial officers on our web site. These documents are available free of charge to any stockholder upon request. Information on our web site is not deemed incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.

Industry Background

      We believe many physicians prefer surgery centers and private surgical hospitals to general acute care hospitals. We believe that this is due to the elective nature of the procedures performed at our surgery centers and private surgical hospitals, which allows physicians to schedule their time more efficiently and therefore increase the number of surgeries they can perform in a given amount of time. In addition, these facilities usually provide physicians with greater scheduling flexibility, more consistent nurse staffing and faster turnaround time between cases. While surgery centers and private surgical hospitals generally perform scheduled surgeries, private acute care hospitals and national health service facilities generally provide a broad range of services, including high priority and emergency procedures. Medical emergencies often demand the unplanned use of operating rooms and result in the postponement or delay of scheduled surgeries, disrupting physicians’ practices and inconveniencing patients. Surgery centers and private surgical hospitals in the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom are designed to improve physician work environments and improve physician efficiency. In addition, many physicians choose to perform surgery in facilities like ours because their patients prefer the comfort of a less institutional atmosphere and the convenience of simplified admissions and discharge procedures.

 
United States

      According to Verispan’s 2003 Outpatient Surgery Center Market Report, the number of outpatient surgery cases performed in freestanding surgery centers increased 81% from 4.3 million in 1996 to an estimated 7.8 million in 2003. Outpatient surgical procedures represented approximately 20% of all surgical procedures performed in the United States in 1981 compared to approximately 78% in 2001. New surgical techniques and technology, as well as advances in anesthesia, have significantly expanded the types of surgical procedures that are being performed in surgery centers and have helped drive the growth in outpatient surgery. Lasers, arthroscopy, enhanced endoscopic techniques and fiber optics have reduced the trauma and recovery time associated with many surgical procedures. Improved anesthesia has shortened recovery time by minimizing post-operative side effects such as nausea and drowsiness, thereby avoiding the need for overnight hospitalization in many cases. In addition, some states in the United States now

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permit surgery centers to keep a patient for up to 23 hours. This allows more complex surgeries, previously only performed in an inpatient setting, to be performed in a surgery center.

      In addition to these technological and other clinical advancements, a changing payor environment has contributed to the rapid growth in outpatient surgery in recent years. Government programs, private insurance companies, managed care organizations and self-insured employers have implemented cost containment measures to limit increases in healthcare expenditures, including procedure reimbursement. These cost containment measures have greatly contributed to the significant shift in the delivery of healthcare services away from traditional inpatient hospitals to more cost-effective alternate sites, including surgery centers. We believe that surgery performed at a surgery center is generally less expensive than hospital-based outpatient surgery because of lower facility development costs, more efficient staffing and space utilization and a specialized operating environment focused on cost containment.

      Today, large healthcare systems in the United States generally offer both inpatient and outpatient surgery on site. In addition, a number of not-for-profit healthcare systems have begun to expand their portfolios of facilities and services by entering into strategic relationships with specialty operators of surgery centers. These strategic relationships enable not-for-profit healthcare systems to offer patients, physicians and payors the cost advantages, convenience and other benefits of outpatient surgery in a freestanding facility. Further, these relationships allow the not-for-profit healthcare systems to focus their attention and resources on their core business without the challenge of acquiring, developing and operating these facilities.

 
Western Europe

      Most countries in Western Europe provide their populations with some level of government-funded healthcare. Despite the success of these public programs, the practical limitations of these systems have resulted in delays or rationing of elective surgeries and certain other procedures. In many of these countries, funding and capacity constraints of public healthcare systems have created an opportunity for private healthcare systems to develop.

      While Spain’s national health service covers substantially all of the country’s population, a private healthcare industry has emerged that currently serves the 17% of Spain’s population that maintains private insurance and another growing portion of the population that pays for elective procedures from personal funds. We believe that these increases support our view that the number of privately insured citizens, the amount of private healthcare expenditures and the resulting demand for private networks such as ours will continue to grow. We also believe that the growth in Spain’s private healthcare industry has been driven in large part by an increase in the number of employers offering private insurance as a benefit to their employees. Like their U.S. counterparts, private insurance companies in Spain typically offer comprehensive health coverage. Since less than one-third of the private surgical hospitals in Spain are owned by multi-facility systems, we believe an opportunity exists to expand our private hospital network that will enable us to negotiate more effectively with the country’s large health insurance companies. Our facilities also supplement the national health service as public hospitals periodically refer overload cases to our facilities.

      We are able to accept or reject these cases based on the available capacity of our facilities and the profitability of the cases. For the year ended December 31, 2003, we derived approximately 72% of our revenues in Spain from private insurance, approximately 17% from private pay and approximately 11% from government payors.

      The United Kingdom also provides government-funded healthcare to all of its residents through a national health service. It, however, is also subject to funding and capacity limitations. Since the demand for healthcare services exceeds the public system’s capacity, U.K. residents may encounter waiting lists for elective surgery of up to 18 months as well as delays in obtaining cancer biopsies and other diagnostic procedures. The World Health Organization reports that 25,000 people die unnecessarily of cancer in Britain each year due to underfinanced and poorly managed cancer programs. In response to these shortfalls, private healthcare networks and private insurance companies have developed in the United

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Kingdom. Approximately 11% of the U.K. population has private insurance to cover elective surgical procedures, and another rapidly growing segment of the population pays for elective procedures from personal funds. For the year ended December 31, 2003, in the United Kingdom, we derived approximately 61% of our revenues from private insurance, approximately 30% from private pay patients and approximately 9% from government payors.

Our Business Strategy

      Our goal is to steadily increase our revenues and cash flows by becoming a leading operator of surgery centers and private surgical hospitals in the United States and selected nations in Western Europe. The key elements of our business strategy are to:

  •  attract and retain top quality surgeons and other physicians;
 
  •  pursue strategic relationships with not-for-profit healthcare systems;
 
  •  expand our presence in existing markets;
 
  •  expand selectively in new markets; and
 
  •  enhance operating efficiencies.

 
Attract and retain top quality surgeons and other physicians

      Since physicians provide and influence the direction of healthcare worldwide, we have developed our operating model to encourage physicians to affiliate with us and to use our facilities as an extension of their practices. We believe we attract physicians because we design our facilities, structure our strategic relationships and adopt staffing, scheduling and clinical systems and protocols to increase physician productivity and promote their professional and financial success. We believe this focus on physicians, combined with providing high quality healthcare in a friendly and convenient environment for patients, will continue to increase case volumes at our facilities. In addition, in the United States, we generally offer physicians the opportunity to purchase equity interests in the facilities they use as an extension of the physicians’ practices. We believe this opportunity attracts quality physicians to our facilities and ownership increases the physicians’ involvement in facility operations, enhancing quality of patient care, increasing productivity and reducing costs.

 
Pursue strategic relationships with not-for-profit healthcare systems

      Through strategic relationships with us, not-for-profit healthcare systems can benefit from our operating expertise and create a new cash flow opportunity with limited capital expenditures. We believe that these relationships also allow not-for-profit healthcare systems in particular to attract and retain physicians and improve their hospital operations by focusing on their core business. We also believe that strategic relationships with these healthcare systems help us to develop more quickly, relationships with physicians, communities, suppliers and payors. Generally, the healthcare systems with which we develop relationships have strong local market positions and excellent reputations that we use in branding our facilities. In addition, our relationships with not-for-profit healthcare systems enhance our acquisition and development efforts by (1) providing opportunities to acquire facilities the systems may own, (2) providing access to physicians already affiliated with the systems, (3) attracting additional physicians to affiliate with newly developed facilities, and (4) encouraging physicians who own facilities to consider a strategic relationship with us.

 
Expand our presence in existing markets

      Our primary strategy is to grow selectively in markets in which we already operate facilities. We believe that selective acquisitions and development of new facilities in existing markets allow us to leverage our existing knowledge of these markets and to improve operating efficiencies. In particular, our experience

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has been that newly developed facilities in markets where we already have a presence and a not-for-profit hospital partner are the best use of the company’s invested capital.
 
Expand selectively in new markets

      We may continue to enter targeted markets by acquiring and developing surgical facilities. In the United States, we expect to do this primarily in conjunction with a local healthcare system or hospital. We typically target the acquisition or development of multi-specialty centers that perform high volume, non-emergency, lower risk procedures requiring lower capital and operating costs than hospitals. In addition, we will also consider the acquisition of multi-facility companies.

      In determining whether to enter a new market, we examine numerous criteria, including:

  •  the potential to achieve strong increases in revenues and cash flows;
 
  •  whether the physicians, healthcare systems and payors in the market are receptive to surgery centers;
 
  •  the size of the market;
 
  •  the number of surgical facilities in the market;
 
  •  the number and nature of outpatient surgical procedures performed in the market;
 
  •  the case mix of the facilities to be acquired;
 
  •  whether the facility is well-positioned to negotiate agreements with insurers, other payors and suppliers; and
 
  •  licensing and other regulatory considerations.

      Upon identifying a target facility, we conduct financial, legal, operational, technology and systems audits of the facility and conduct interviews with the facility’s management, affiliated physicians and staff. Once we acquire or develop a facility, we focus on upgrading systems and protocols, including implementing our proprietary methodology of defined processes and information systems, to increase case volume and improve operating efficiencies.

 
Enhance operating efficiencies

      Once we acquire a new facility in the U.S., we integrate it into our existing network by implementing a specific action plan to support the local management team and incorporate the new facility into our group purchasing contracts. We also implement our systems and protocols to improve operating efficiencies and contain costs. Our most important operational tool is our management system “Every Day Giving Excellence,” which we refer to as USPI’s EDGE. This proprietary measurement system allows us to track our clinical, service and financial performance, best practices and key indicators in each of our facilities. Our goal is to use USPI’s EDGE to ensure that we provide each of the patients using our facilities with high quality healthcare, offer physicians a superior work environment and eliminate inefficiencies. Using USPI’s EDGE, we track and monitor our performance in clinical care areas such as (1) providing surgeons the equipment, supplies and surgical support they need, (2) starting cases on time, (3) minimizing turnover time between cases, and (4) providing efficient schedules. USPI’s EDGE compiles and organizes the specified information on a daily basis and is easily accessed over the Internet by our facilities on a secure basis. The information provided by USPI’s EDGE enables our employees, facility administrators and management to analyze trends over time and share processes and best practices among our facilities. In addition, the information is used as an evaluative tool by our administrators and as a budgeting and planning tool by our management. USPI’s EDGE is now deployed in all of our U.S. facilities.

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Operations

 
Operations in the United States

      Our operations in the United States consist primarily of our ownership and management of surgery centers. We have ownership interests in 55 surgery centers and five private surgical hospitals and manage or operate, through agreements, two additional surgery centers. Additionally, we own interests in and expect to operate three surgery centers and three private surgical hospitals that are currently under construction. We also have approximately nine projects under development, all of which include a hospital partner, and numerous other potential projects in various stages of consideration, some of which may result in our adding additional facilities during 2004. Over 3,000 physicians have privileges to use our facilities. Our surgery centers are licensed outpatient surgery centers; our private surgical hospitals are licensed as hospitals. Both are generally equipped and staffed for multiple surgical specialties and located in freestanding buildings or medical office buildings. Our average surgery center has approximately 13,000 square feet of space with four or five operating rooms, as well as ancillary areas for preparation, recovery, reception and administration. Our surgery center facilities range from a 4,000 square foot, two operating room facility to a 20,000 square foot, six operating room facility. Our surgery centers are normally open weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to approximately 5:00 p.m. or until the last patient is discharged. We estimate that a surgery center with four operating rooms can accommodate up to 6,000 procedures per year. Our surgical hospitals average 30,000 square feet of space with six operating rooms, ranging in size from 17,000 to 44,000 square feet and having from 4 to 7 operating rooms.

      Our surgery center support staff typically consists of registered nurses, operating room technicians, an administrator who supervises the day-to-day activities of the surgery center, a receptionist and a small number of office staff. Each center also has a medical director, who is typically an anesthesiologist and responsible for and supervises the quality of medical care provided at the center. Use of our surgery centers is limited to licensed physicians, podiatrists and oral surgeons who are also on the medical staff of a local accredited hospital. Each center maintains a peer review committee consisting of physicians who use our facilities and who review the professional credentials of physicians applying for surgical privileges.

      All but our most recently acquired or constructed surgical facilities are accredited by either the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare. We believe that accreditation is the quality benchmark for managed care organizations. Many managed care organizations will not contract with a facility until it is accredited. We believe that our historical performance in the accreditation process reflects our commitment to providing high quality care in our surgical facilities.

      Generally, our surgical facilities are limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships or limited liability companies in which ownership interests are also held by local physicians who are on the medical staff of the centers. Our ownership interests in the centers range from 9.5% to 100%. Our partnership and limited liability company agreements typically provide for the quarterly pro rata distribution of cash equal to net revenues from operations, less amounts held in reserve for expenses and working capital. We also have a management agreement with each of the facilities under which we provide day-to-day management services for a management fee that is typically a percentage of the net revenues of the facility.

      Our partnership and limited liability company agreements typically provide that if various regulatory changes take place we will be obligated to purchase some or all of the ownership interests of the physicians in the partnerships or limited liability companies that own and operate the applicable surgery centers. The regulatory changes that could trigger such an obligation include changes that:

  •  make illegal the referral of Medicare and other patients to our surgery centers by physicians affiliated with us;
 
  •  create the substantial likelihood that cash distributions from the partnership or limited liability company to the physician owners thereof will be illegal; or
 
  •  cause physician ownership interests in the partnerships or limited liability companies to be illegal.

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      Typically, our partnership and limited liability company agreements allow us to use shares of our common stock as consideration for the purchase of a physician’s interest should we be required to purchase these interests. In the event we are required to purchase these interests and our common stock does not maintain a sufficient valuation, we may be required to use cash for the acquisition of a physician’s interest. As a result, the triggering of these obligations and the possible termination of our affiliation with these physicians, which we do not believe is likely, could have a material adverse effect on us.

      Our business depends upon the efforts and success of the physicians who provide medical services at our facilities and the strength of our relationships with these physicians. Our business could be adversely affected by the loss of our relationship with, or a reduction in use of our facilities by, a key physician or group of physicians. The physicians that affiliate with us and use our facilities are not our employees. However, we generally offer the physicians the opportunity to purchase equity interests in the facilities they use.

 
Strategic Relationships

      A key element of our business strategy is to pursue strategic relationships with not-for-profit healthcare systems (“hospital partners”) in selected markets. Of our 62 U.S. facilities, 35 are jointly-owned with 16 not-for-profit healthcare systems. Our strategy involves developing these relationships in three primary ways. One way is by adding new facilities in existing markets with our existing hospital partners. An example of this is our relationship with the Baylor Health Care System in Dallas, Texas. The Baylor joint ventures own a network of 17 operational surgical facilities that serve the approximately four million people in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area. These joint ventures have added new facilities each year since their inception in 1999, including three during 2003, and have an additional three facilities under construction. Another example is our relationship with Ascension Health (“Ascension”) in the Nashville, Tennessee market, through Saint Thomas Health Services (“Saint Thomas”). We jointly own four facilities with Saint Thomas, having constructed and opened one facility in 2002 and another in 2003.

      Another way we develop our strategic relationships with not-for-profit healthcare systems is through the contribution of our ownership interests in existing facilities to a joint venture relationship. During 2003, we contributed our interests in three operational surgical facilities to a joint venture with the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System (“Memorial”) in Houston, Texas and opened a new facility in joint ownership with Memorial. Also during 2003, we contributed our interest in one operational surgery center and one surgical hospital that is expected to open in 2004 to a joint venture with Catholic Healthcare West (“CHW”) in Phoenix, Arizona and added an additional facility in that market under joint ownership with CHW.

      A third way we develop these relationships is through expansion into new markets, both with existing hospital partners and with new partners. An example of this strategy is our expansion into two southern California markets with CHW. We have two projects under development in that region, and while there can be no assurance that these projects will result in operational surgical facilities, significant progress has been made in identifying sites and securing financing and other support from physician partners in the local communities. This would represent our third and fourth markets with CHW, with whom we already jointly own facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona. In 2003 we added three new hospital partners in new markets: CHRISTUS Health, through a project currently under development in San Antonio, Texas; Bon Secours Health System, through a project currently under development in Newport News, Virginia; and Providence Health System, through a project currently in the early stages of development in Mission Hills, California. While there can be no assurance that existing or future development projects with these partners will be satisfactorily completed, the relationships represent the potential for future expansion into several new markets, given that each of these three healthcare systems, like Ascension and CHW, operates in several states.

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Operations in Spain

      We believe our operations in Spain comprise one of the largest private hospital networks in this highly fragmented market. We own and operate eight private surgical hospitals, one surgery center and a diagnostic facility in Spain and over 1,350 physicians use our facilities. These facilities, located primarily in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, range in size from 19 beds to 133 beds with an average of 97 beds. In this market, we focus primarily on five specialties: obstetrics/gynecology; orthopedic surgery; general surgery; internal medicine; and plastic surgery.

      In addition, we are developing our brand name, “USPE,” in all of our markets in Spain in an effort to attract top quality physicians and a greater number of patients. We are developing this brand by leveraging the reputation of our more prominent physicians and facilities, particularly Instituto Universitario Dexeus (“Dexeus”) in Barcelona. Dexeus is one of only two private teaching hospitals in Spain. We believe Dexeus’ affiliation with the University of Barcelona, which has nationally renowned physicians, makes it one of Spain’s most respected private hospitals and greatly enhances the USPE brand image.

 
Operations in the United Kingdom

      We acquired Parkside Hospital in Wimbledon, a suburb southwest of London, and Holly House Hospital in a suburb northeast of London near Essex in April 2000. Parkside has 69 registered acute care beds, including four high dependency beds and four operating theatres, one of which is a dedicated endoscopy suite. Parkside also has its own on-site pathology laboratory which provides services to the on-site cancer treatment center. The imaging department, which has been extensively upgraded in the past three years, has an MRI scanner, CT scanner, and two X-ray screening rooms, plus mammography, dental and ultrasound services available. Approximately 400 surgeons, anesthesiologists, and physicians, all of whom have been subject to a strict credentialing process and continue to participate in annual appraisal programs which Parkside shares with a local hospital operated by the United Kingdom’s national health service, have admitting privileges to the hospital. Parkside’s key specialties include orthopedics, gynecology, neurosurgery, ear-nose-throat, endoscopy and general surgery, and the hospital is currently expanding its day case services in conjunction with the recent opening of the oncology clinic.

      Parkside Oncology Clinic opened in August 2003 and has state of the art equipment designed to provide a wide range of cancer treatments. The pre-treatment and planning suite houses a dedicated CT scanner, which, along with the linear accelerators and virtual simulation software, is linked to the department’s planning system. The clinic also has its own pharmacy aseptic suite which provides chemotherapy to the day care unit at the hospital.

      Holly House Hospital has been an acute care hospital for 20 years and has 55 registered acute care beds, including three high dependency beds. The hospital has three operating theatres and its own on-site pathology laboratory and pharmacy. A diagnostic suite houses MRI and CT scanners, X-ray screening rooms, mammography, ultrasound, and DEXA scanning as well as Kodak Computer Radiography. Over 340 surgeons, anesthesiologists, and physicians have admitting privileges at the hospital, and there are well-established orthopedic, plastic and general surgery practices. The hospital plans to institute oncology and chemotherapy services in the coming year.

      We acquired Highgate Hospital in 2003. Highgate is a 32 bed acute care hospital located in the affluent Hampstead area of London. The hospital has an established cosmetic surgery business and additional practices, including orthopedics, endoscopy and general surgery are being developed.

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Case Mix

      The following table sets forth the percentage of our revenues determined based on internally reported case volume from our U.S. facilities and internally reported revenue from our Spain and U.K. facilities for the year ended December 31, 2003 from each of the following specialties:

                           
Specialty U.S. Spain U.K.




Orthopedic
    25 %     20 %     33 %
Pain management
    23             1  
Obstetrics/gynecology
    4 (1)     17 (2)     13 (3)
General surgery
    5       11       16  
Ear, nose and throat
    6       3       4  
Gastrointestinal
    14       9       4  
Plastic surgery
    5       3       14  
Ophthalmology
    9       2       4  
Other
    9       35       11  
     
     
     
 
 
Total
    100 %     100 %     100 %
     
     
     
 


(1)  Includes gynecology only.
 
(2)  Includes obstetrics and gynecology.
 
(3)  Includes gynecology and in vitro fertilization.

 
Payor Mix

      The following table sets forth the percentage of our revenues determined based on internally reported case volume from our U.S. surgical facilities and internally reported revenue from our Spain and U.K. facilities for the year ended December 31, 2003 from each of the following payors:

                           
Payor U.S. Spain U.K.




Private insurance
    69 %     72 %     61 %
Self-pay
    3       17       30  
Government
    25 (1)     11       9  
Other
    3              
     
     
     
 
 
Total
    100 %     100 %     100 %
     
     
     
 


(1)  Based solely on case volume. Because government payors typically pay less than private insurance, the percentage of our U.S. revenue attributable to government payors is approximately 11% for Medicare and 1% for Medicaid.

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      The following table sets forth information relating to the not-for-profit healthcare systems with which we are affiliated as of December 31, 2003:

                           
Number Number
of Facilities of Joint
Healthcare System Geographical Focus Operated Ventures




Single Market Systems:
                       
Baylor Healthcare System
    Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas       17       1  
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
    Houston, Texas       4       1  
Meridian Health System
    New Jersey       2       1  
Covenant Health:
    Eastern Tennessee               1  
 
Fort Sanders Parkwest Medical Center
    Knoxville, Tennessee       1          
Decatur General Hospital
    Decatur, Alabama       1       1  
Mountain States Health Alliance:
    Northeast Tennessee               1  
 
Johnson City Medical Center
    Johnson City, Tennessee       1          
Northside Hospital
    Atlanta, Georgia       1       1  
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
    East Brunswick, New Jersey       1       1  
Multi-Market Systems:
                       
Ascension Health(a):
    19 states and D.C.(b)       4       1  
 
Baptist Hospital (2 facilities)
    Nashville, Tennessee                  
 
Middle Tennessee Medical Center (1 facility)
    Murfreesboro, Tennessee                  
 
Saint Thomas Health Services (1 facility)
    Nashville, Tennessee                  
Catholic Healthcare West:
    California, Arizona, Nevada       3       4  
 
St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center (2 facilities)
    Phoenix, Arizona                  
 
St. Rose Dominican Hospital (1 facility)
    Henderson, Nevada                  
 
San Gabriel Valley Medical Center(c)
    San Gabriel, California                  
 
Mercy Southwest Hospital(c)
    Bakersfield, California                  
Bon Secours Health System:
    Nine eastern states(d)               1  
 
Mary Immaculate Hospital(c)
    Newport News, Virginia                  
CHRISTUS Health
    Five states(e)               1  
 
South Texas Medical Center(c)
    San Antonio, Texas                  
Providence Health System:
    Four western states(f)               1  
 
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center (c)
    Mission Hills, California                  
             
     
 
Totals
            35       16  
             
     
 


 
(a) Through the Saint Thomas Health Services System
 
(b) Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin
 
(c) A joint venture agreement has been signed and projects have been initiated, but no facilities in this joint venture are yet operational.
 
(d) Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia
 
(e) Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, and Utah
 
(f) Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington

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Facilities

     The following table sets forth information relating to the facilities that we operated as of December 31, 2003:

                             
Date of Number
Acquisition of Percentage
or Operating Owned by
Facility Affiliation Rooms USPI




    United States                        
    Atlanta                        
*
  Advanced Surgery Center, Canton, Georgia(1)     3/27/02       3       26  
    East West Surgery Center, Austell, Georgia     9/1/00 (4)     3       51  
    Lawrenceville Surgical Center, Lawrenceville, Georgia     8/1/01       2       15  
    Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center, Marietta, Georgia     11/1/00 (4)     2       15  
    Orthopaedic South Surgical Center, Morrow, Georgia     11/28/03