Cosmetic Surgery Center–Our Nationally-Accredited (AAAASF) on-site Surgical Facility

Virtually all of the aesthetic (cosmetic) surgical procedures that our American Board of Plastic Surgery-certified plastic surgeons offer can be performed at Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. in our nationally-accredited (QUAD A, formerly AAAASF) on-site surgical facility. Membership in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is offered only to plastic surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Another requirement for membership is that ASPS member plastic surgeons operate ONLY at accredited facilities, whether they are hospital, free-standing surgical center, or in-office surgical facilities such as at Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. This “higher standard” is why only select ABPS-certified plastic surgeons operate their own accredited surgical facilities.

But just because a doctor operates at an office-based facility does not guarantee that he or she is an ABPS-certified plastic surgeon. In fact, doctors who have little or no training in plastic surgery may claim “board-certification” by bogus boards, or boards that have nothing to do with plastic surgery. Dermatologists, general surgeons, and ENT doctors may be legitimately board-certified in their own specialty, but these training programs have virtually no comparison to complete plastic and reconstructive surgical fellowships. Often the “cosmetic surgery training” these non-plastic surgeons receive are weekend courses, or short preceptorships with other non-plastic surgeons who seek to fool patients into thinking they are equally capable of performing complex aesthetic surgical procedures. Since these doctors are not qualified to receive the same full plastic surgical operating privileges at hospitals and hospital-administered free-standing surgicenters, these plastic surgeon “wannabees” avoid peer-review and credentials committees by operating in their own non-accredited ORs, which in many cases are simply small rooms with an adjustable exam table, no credentialed anesthesia provider, and minimal post-op care. For more information, click on this link: “Why Board Certification is Critical When Choosing a Plastic Surgeon.”

Our 9000 sq.ft. Minneapolis, Minnesota clinical and administrative space includes a comprehensive outpatient surgical center incorporated within our main office. Our QUAD A-accredited facility includes three fully-equipped operating rooms along with individual pre-operative and recovery areas to ensure maximum patient safety, comfort, and confidentiality before and after outpatient cosmetic surgery. MPS offers complete anesthesia care for local, IV sedation, and general anesthesia cases, all performed as outpatient procedures, without the exposure to sick patients or nasty bacteria at a hospital. And unlike hospitals or hospital-affiliated surgicenters where surgeons of various specialties perform all sorts of procedures from colonoscopies to orthopedic surgery, or cataracts to hemorrhoidectomies, our surgical facility and entire surgical staff specialize only in state-of-the-art aesthetic (cosmetic) plastic surgery—our care is focused exclusively on the best cosmetic surgery practices, equipment, and patient care, confidentiality, and safety.

Our administrative and nursing staffs are the core personnel that allow Dr. Gervais and Dr. Tholen to provide the quality and level of skilled plastic surgical care that distinguish Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD.  MPS has a full-time on-site patient care coordinator who can aid in consultations, cost quotes, questions about pre-operative physicals (required for surgery/anesthesia), surgical follow-up visits, or phone questions; our Director of Patient Services is also our surgical scheduler, and would be happy to assist our patients with picking a procedure date or any part of the consult-to-completion of surgery process.

Our patient testimonials  (Dr. Gervais) (Dr.Tholen)  affirm not only the expertise of our plastic surgeons, but the truly gifted and experienced (average 17 years tenure) capabilities of our office, nursing, and anesthesia staff.

Our American Board of Plastic Surgery-certified plastic surgeons also have full surgical and admission privileges, and peer-reviewed credentials, at several area hospitals where any emergencies can be referred, or the rare overnight care arranged.

Anesthesia Services at Our Surgical Center

Complete anesthesia services are provided by Darin Hill, CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, and head of Anesthesia Services), and his team of CRNAs, presently delivering the superb anesthesia services that MPS has offered since 1991. Darin says, “Anesthesia care at Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. has been refined to a degree that offers the best possible experience: significantly less nausea and discomfort than hospital anesthesia, with individualized one-on-one attention, safety, and monitoring. We provide this care with respect, kindness, and confidentiality for each and every patient.” The highest quality anesthesia medications are used in every surgery so that each patient has the most comfortable and safe surgical experience possible.

Darin Hill, CRNA and his staff of equally well-trained and experienced CRNA colleagues have years of experience with our cosmetic surgery patients and each provides one-on-one care and full monitoring throughout every operative procedure. Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. utilizes the most effective, high-quality anesthetic medicines for your surgery, as well as complete continuous monitoring of blood pressure, EKG, pulse, temperature, oxygen in your bloodstream, exhaled carbon dioxide, and fluids during surgery and through your recovery. Since we utilize total intravenous anesthetic medications (TIVA) rather than inhalation anesthetics (gas and nitrous oxide) for virtually all cases, our post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) rate is significantly lower than the hospital and surgicenter rate of 7-28 percent. For the past decade, we have tracked our own patients after surgery, including complex and longer operations, and our present PONV rate is between 2.5 and 3.5 percent for all cosmetic surgeries. Our team of CRNAs is the best of the best, using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to help you feel better, do better, bruise less, have fewer bleeding concerns, and have a much more comfortable experience overall.  Many patients who have had less than ideal anesthesia experiences elsewhere tell us that the anesthesia care given at Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. is the best they have ever received, anywhere.

Your safety is our paramount concern, as each of our RNs, CRNAs, and MDs have up-to-date ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) training. Even our non-medical office personnel have undergone BLS (Basic Life Support) training, and we maintain full safety equipment and medications as well as an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator). In over 18,000 operations at MPS over the past 35 years, there has not been one death, heart attack, or stroke—a statistic achieved by attention and care of each individual patient by our superbly-trained and experienced staff.

Other Services We Provide

Besides our nationally-accredited outpatient surgical center, MPS’s on-site surgery facility incorporates treatment and minor procedure rooms, aesthetic suites, post-operative massage therapy area, and cosmetic and surgical laser services. Hair wash and blow dry is offered after facial bandage removal, and camouflage makeup (as well as many other non-surgical services) is available across the hall at our skin and body care clinic. If they wish, post-operative patients may utilize a separate waiting area and a separate discreet exit for added privacy. In order to maintain compliance with American Board of Plastic Surgery requirements, ABPS-certified plastic surgeons who operate in their own facility must maintain accreditation of that facility.

Our on-site surgical center is evaluated and accredited annually by QUAD A–formerly the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) and has been in compliance with QUAD A standards since the surgery center was expanded in 1991.

Complete skin and body care, including facial peels, BOTOX® Cosmetic, Kybella for non-surgical treatment of double chin, Radiesse®, Juvéderm®, Sculptra®, Voluma™, spider vein treatment, skin pen micro-needling, laser hair removal, Exilis non-surgical fat removal and skin tightening, HydraFacial, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments, bio-identical hormone therapy, and both pre- and post-operative cosmetic care is offered at Minneapolis Anti-Aging & Skin Clinic’s (formerly Carillon Clinic) two main locations: across the hall from the main MPS office facility, and in Maple Grove. Dr. Gervais and Dr. Tholen also serve as medical director for the Lifetime Medi-Spa locations at multiple Lifetime Fitness locations, as well as several other private medi-spa locations in White Bear Lake and Minnetonka, Minnesota, and one in Hudson, Wisconsin.

With Minneapolis Plastic Surgery’s use of TIVA (Total IV Anesthesia) that avoids the nausea and vomiting of typical inhalation general anesthesia, very few cosmetic surgery patients (regardless of procedure) require overnight or inpatient care; when these are deemed necessary for patient safety, Dr. Douglas L. Gervais and Dr. Richard H. Tholen maintain full surgical and admitting privileges at several Minneapolis, Minnesota metropolitan hospitals for this purpose.

Our care does not stop at the end of the operation—each patient is scheduled with a recheck appointment before they leave our facility, and all follow-up visits are included in the surgical fees already paid. Each patient sees their surgeon multiple times as his or her recovery progresses; ongoing assessment, recommendations, and answers to any questions are provided so that each patient can achieve their optimal outcome with the lowest risk of complications, or the need to undergo additional touch-up or revisionary surgery or intervention. We also have an online portal called Klara that each patient can securely utilize to contact each doctor, nursing staff, or administrative personnel. Our reputation is built on your outcome, so we strive to do everything possible to achieve the best results possible.

Contact Our Cosmetic Surgery Practice, serving Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota

Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. is one of the few cosmetic surgery practices in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area with a complete nationally-accredited outpatient surgery center on-site so that patients do not need to visit an outside hospital. Virtually all of the aesthetic plastic surgery procedures offered at Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. can be performed safely in one of our three operating rooms as outpatient operations. No inpatient or hospital care is necessary. Advanced anesthesia techniques considered too costly for routine hospital use allow even lengthy operations to be safely and successfully performed as outpatient procedures. Our clinical and surgical facility includes multiple other patient-specific and purpose-directed areas, including preoperative, aesthetic, and recovery areas, designed to make our patients as comfortable as possible in a confidential setting. Contact Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, LTD. to learn more about our surgical center, or to schedule a complimentary consultation with our American Board of Plastic Surgery-certified plastic surgeons.

Because of the high demand for free consultations with our plastic surgeons, our staff will ask for a credit card number in order to schedule a consultation; there is no charge whatsoever for appointments that are kept–you will be charged $100 only if you fail to keep a scheduled appointment, or fail to cancel at least 48 hours in advance of your appointment time–for Monday appointments, you must cancel no later than noon on the previous Thursday; for Tuesday appointments, you must cancel no later than noon on the previous Friday.