By Mark Coddington
mark.coddington@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Dr. Brant Luebbe examines Patrick Moran during a post operative checkup at the new Surgery Group of Grand Island office on 8200 Alpha Street. Moran was recovering from a laproscopic reflux surgery. Independent/Scott Kingsley The Surgery Group of Grand Island has moved and now has its offices at 820 Alpha Street. Click Thumbnails to View

But with its move last week, the practice is finally in a space that's truly built for the four doctors it has, rather than the two it used to have.

The Surgery Group added two offices to its old space at 908 N. Howard Ave. in 1999, but its patient volume has increased since then.

"It was difficult to be really efficient," said Dr. John Goering, one of the group's surgeons. "As the patients were waiting, so were we. We just didn't have a room to put them in."

The group's new building at 820 N. Alpha St. more than doubles its space, from 4,800 to 10,000 square feet, Office Manager Ann McMickell said. The number of examination rooms also jumps from six to 14.

The building, formerly owned by Dr. Gordon Bainbridge, offers wide hallways and a spacious waiting room for patients as well as offices for each of its employees something they didn't have before.

The larger exam rooms will also allow more space for family members, Goering said.

The Surgery Group performs a wide range of procedures, from gall bladder removal to colorectal operations to gastric bypasses.

Its surgeries are done using laparoscopy, a less invasive form of surgery that uses a smaller incision and camera and shortens post-operation recovery, Goering said.

The group is one of only a few in the state that performs laparoscopic surgery, something many patients are surprised to hear.

"We want people to feel comfortable that they're getting excellent care in Grand Island and that they don't have to go to a bigger city just because it's a bigger-name hospital," said Dr. Brant Luebbe, a surgeon with the group.

Since the group was launched in 1978 with Drs. A.E. Van Wie and Dan Cronk, it's grown steadily, with patients increasing as doctors make regular visits to nearby towns such as Central City, Ord and St. Paul.

As each of the doctors Cronk, Goering, Luebbe and Dr. Steve Schneider has come on board, the types of surgeries offered have expanded as well, the doctors said.

Many of those operations are performed at nearby St. Francis Medical Center, but some minor ones are done in one of the new building's two operating rooms.

The doctors said they hope the new building will set the foundation for continued growth and potential future expansion. Now, they said, they have a space that fits with the quality of services they provide.

"There's a lot of things we do and do quite well," Goering said. "And we'd like people to know that they're available here."