What began in 1976 as a two-physician surgical practice has grown over five decades into one of the region’s largest and most comprehensive surgical groups.
This month, University Surgical Associates is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking half a century of surgical care, medical education and clinical research in the Chattanooga area.
Founded by Dr. Phillip Burns, the practice initially operated as a small surgical group serving local hospitals. Today, USA employs more than 200 people, including more than 30 surgeons and advanced practice providers, and offers a wide range of specialized surgical services across the region.
“For the past 50 years, quality care and teaching have been at the forefront of everything we do,” says Dr. Katie Duffy, CEO of University Surgical Associates. “Ultimately, our patients are the focus every single day.”
USA now serves patients at seven locations throughout the greater Chattanooga area. Its physicians hold privileges at multiple regional hospital systems, including Erlanger Health System, Parkridge Health System, CommonSpirit Health (formerly CHI Memorial) and Vitruvian Bradley Medical Center in Cleveland.
The practice provides both emergency and elective procedures for adults and children. Its specialties include general surgery, endocrine surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, vascular surgery, kidney transplantation and surgical oncology for cancers of the breast, colon, rectum, liver and pancreas.
Throughout its history, USA has played a central role in introducing new surgical specialties and techniques to the region. Over the years, its physicians have brought several surgical firsts to Chattanooga, including performing the area’s first kidney transplant and endovascular procedures. The group also helped recruit the community’s first pediatric, trauma, colorectal, vascular and pancreatic surgeons.
Dr. Benjamin Dart, a general and trauma surgeon with USA who also serves as professor of surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine in Chattanooga, says the field’s rapid pace of change requires physicians to continually evolve.
“In health care, you have to embrace change because so much evolves every single day,” Dart says. “At USA, we have a willingness to make good decisions, change our practice and adapt without losing sight of what we’re really all about, which is quality care and education.”
Education has long been a core part of the practice’s mission. Through its collaboration with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine, USA physicians help operate one of the nation’s leading surgical residency programs.
Each year, the program graduates up to six chief residents in general surgery along with fellows specializing in critical care, vascular surgery and colorectal surgery. The faculty also serve as the region’s primary investigators in clinical research studies covering the range of surgical services offered through the program.
Those efforts help ensure that patients in the Chattanooga area have access to the most current surgical techniques and advances in care.
“If you start with the patient, everything else takes care of itself,” says Dr. Heath Giles, a general and endocrine surgeon with USA and professor of surgery at UTHSC who also directs the general surgery residency program. “At USA, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is the level of expertise our team of surgeons commands. When you have good people who want to do the right thing and put the patient first, like we have for the last 50 years, then it doesn’t matter how the landscape of medicine changes.”
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, University Surgical Associates also unveiled a new logo and brand redesign earlier this year. The updated branding will appear at community events throughout 2026 as the organization commemorates its milestone year.
Despite its growth, USA leaders say the mission that began with Burns nearly five decades ago remains unchanged: providing high-quality surgical care while training the next generation of physicians.
“Our mission is to enrich quality of life for our community through excellent surgical care and education,” Duffy says.
More information about University Surgical Associates is available at universitysurgical.com.
Source: University Surgical Associates