Tucked away amid the Sequim Medical Center off Fifth Avenue is one of Sequim’s best-kept secrets.

Sequim Same Day Surgery, one of Washington state’s first and Sequim’s only ambulatory services, is celebrating 25 years in business.

What started as a small operation, so to speak, in the early 1980s has flourished into a 13-doctor staff that’s performed more than 26,000 same-day surgeries and has a 98-percent patient satisfaction rating.

The road has been bumpy for Sequim Same Day Surgery owners and advocates. Though the concept of same-day surgery "took off" and was very successful nationwide in the 1980s and 1990s, Sequim residents met the idea with reluctance.

"We had a very difficult time," said Joseph Novak, retired orthopedic surgeon and one of Sequim Same Day Surgery’s founders.

"It took a very long time before we began to improve and the business became successful."

Novak and his fellow founders met the controversy with enthusiasm.

"It’s been a challenge and we’ve enjoyed the excitement over the years," Novak said.

"We have a tremendous group of dedicated employees who live in this community and like being of service to their neighbors and friends."

A few employees have been with Sequim Same Day Surgery since its inception. Others are rounding 20-plus years.

Sequim Same Day Surgery has a solid reputation in the community and a working relationship with Olympic Medical Center.

The fact that patients sometimes refer to the business as "invisible" doesn’t bother Novak.

"We can be unnoticed but if we do good quality work and gain a positive reputation with the public, they will know who and where we are," Novak said.

"If there’s one thing we’ve proven to ourselves, it’s that we can do the job we do better and cheaper than anyone else. We get people in and out so they can convalesce at home."

Sequim Same Day Surgery opened in its existing facility 25 years ago. In recent years, owners sold the building to Olympic Medical Center and signed a long-term lease.

A private anniversary ceremony took place last December. A public open house celebration is tentatively scheduled for March.

Services include hand and foot surgery, steroid injections, chronic pain management, colonoscopies, upper gastrointestinal endoscopies and more.

Ashley Miller can be reached at ashleyo@sequimgazette.com.

Recover in the comfort of your home

Sequim Same Day Surgery, 777 N. Fifth Ave., suite 113, offers a variety of services including hand and foot surgery, colonoscopies and endoscopies.

Patients are generally admitted and released within hours.

For more information about the doctors on staff and the services offered, call 582-2632.